


Taste

by EvenescentTranquility



Series: One Piece AUs (The First Set) [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, M/M, Multi, Reverse Harem, Vampire Sex, Vampires, mild bloodplay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-09-26 04:07:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 42,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9861800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvenescentTranquility/pseuds/EvenescentTranquility
Summary: One Piece Vampire AUIn a society where vampires walk side-by-side with normal people, you have yet to give blood. So who's going to get the first taste?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work will contain mild bloodplay, so vampires will be biting people and people will like it. If this disturbs you then I would suggest you skip over the lemon scenes as it will be very explicit there, otherwise it is only mildly mentioned throughout the story.
> 
> One Piece belongs to Oda, but this story belongs to me :)

Soft music played in the background as she relaxed, fruity alcoholic beverage in hand quietly people watching in her booth, that was tucked into a quiet corner of the establishment. She’d long since been abandoned by the friend who’d insisted she come with her, and she was fine with that, fine with waiting for her friend to return. She understood not wanting to be in a place like this alone.

Blood houses could be dangerous places for humans. They were supposed to be a haven where humans and vampires could interact without issue, and vampires could find willing donors. Unfortunately it didn’t always work that way. 

Vampire bites were extremely pleasurable for the victim because of a cocktail of hormones and enzymes that triggered a rush of endorphins. That meant that a victim would never, ever feel pain or know when enough was enough, it was completely up to the vampire to stop. This required a lot of control and responsibility on the part of the vampire, humans could easily suffer dangerous blood loss and even death if a vampire wasn’t careful. It actually happened fairly frequently in the shadier Blood Houses. 

The only reason this wasn’t an issue is that the one thing all Blood Houses had in common was a contract that you signed upon entry, that any person who agreed to “donate” to a vampire did so at their own risk, and neither vampire nor establishment was responsible for any injury or death that occurred due to vampire feeding on the premises.

One would think that, that would discourage people, but the rush of endorphins was a heady thing, and could be addictive. Plus in a society where vampires were for the most part integrated, helping to feed the vampires was highly encouraged.

After all vampires were the ones who did high-risk jobs, law-enforcement, military, construction and more because vampires as a whole had better senses and were stronger, faster and more durable than humans. They were an integral part of society.

Some might think with these advantages everyone would want to be a vampire, but such things were highly regulated. The only ones allowed to be “turned” as it were, were those who were going to be a vampire’s mate, because mated vampire pairs needed far less blood from the population than unmated ones because they often chose to feed from each other or from others in their coven rather than on humans as that “tasted better” to them.

It helped that despite certain legends vampires weren’t immortal, admittedly they could potentially live longer than humans, the oldest recorded vampire lived to be well over five hundred before passing away of old age. However most never lived that long, they either went mad and were put down or they were simply killed.

Vampires killing vampires was a fairly frequent thing, and because vampires were the ones who made up law enforcement they were generally overlooked. This was mostly because the cocktail of venom that made feeding so pleasurable also greatly increased aggression, especially in vampire males. . Only the strongest, or those with strong covens survived long.

On top of that, for whatever reason the venom took better to males than females, which meant females were far less likely to survive the process of being turned. More than seventy-five percent of males given the correct treatment were turned successfully, while less than fifty percent of females made it through the transition.

Thus it wasn’t surprising not many humans were changed. Admittedly there were still plenty out there who would do almost anything to be turned, but every society had its radicals and this was no different. This in combination with the fact that it was very difficult for female vampires to conceive and carry vampire children to term, and vampire to human pregnancies were impossible thanks to blood incompatibility kept the vampire population low enough to not cause issues.

With most of the born vampires also being male, it wasn’t surprising that the Blood Houses were necessary for unmated vampires. Though admittedly sometimes vampire mated couples would also come just to make things different once in a while.

This Blood House in particular was very popular, it was right in the middle of the intersection of several vampire covens’ territories, thus it wasn’t unusual to some across vampires from the Whitebeard, Redhair, and Revolutionary covens and their allies here. All three covens had a reputation for being careful and kind to humans, as opposed to others like the World Noble coven, or Kaido and Doflamingo’s covens.

Admittedly vampires killing humans was almost unheard of, outside of Blood House accidents, as all sane vampires recognized the need for humans to feed them, it didn’t mean vampires thought of them as equals. The fact of the matter was the opposite was true. Many vampires disregarded humans and viewed them as beneath them, refusing to interact with them anywhere but the blood houses.

Unfortunately that didn’t seem to discourage humans from allowing them to feed on them, partly because of the way society idolized them, and partially because the other thing vampires had over humans is the ability to enthrall them. The thrall was a bit like hypnotism and was actually a potent hormone they could release into the air that was captivating to humans. It didn’t actually control the human, but it made them more suggestible, and while it generally only worked well on the weak willed, well not everyone can be strong, and in a crowd of a hundred there were bound to be at least a handful that would fall under thrall easily.

It was rumored that the stronger and older the vampire the tougher it was to fight off their thrall, but it wasn’t proven, and so it remained a myth. Mostly because older vampires tended to have mates, and even if they didn’t they were the kind who had plenty of other means to lure humans in, like money or connections. She however knew it to be true, and was always careful around older vampires.

Taking another small sip of her drink she watched the other vampires and humans interact with one another, taking note of which vampires were polite and kind, and which were more pushy. Every so often a pair would leave towards the back of the building to the private rooms having established consent to feed. Feedings were always done in private, mostly because it was extremely unnerving to watch someone else being fed on. 

It was considered extremely insulting for a vampire to feed on a human out in the open. It was a bit like calling the human a prostitute, saying you didn’t respect them enough to take them somewhere private. On one hand this could be a good thing, as it prevented any sort of embarrassment in front of large groups of people, on the other it also meant no one was generally around to save you if the vampire got carried away.

Fortunately for her friend, Hannah the reason she’d chosen this particular Blood House, wasn’t only for the fact that it mostly contained human friendly vampires, but also because it was one of the only Blood Houses that vetted the vampires that came to feed.

Vampires had their own entrance here, and at the entrance they’d be greeted, and their information would be located. If the vampire had a history of being overly aggressive, or any deaths on their record they were turned away, or required to have an escort when they actually went to feed. The escort was a Blood House employee responsible and strong enough to pull the other vampire off at any time if they thought the life of the human was in danger.

Unfortunately because of these precautions it cost a bit to get into this particular Blood House, whereas most others had free entry, seeing as the humans were actually doing the vampires a favor in feeding them. However the fee was minimal and she felt the added safety well worth the money out of pocket. It meant she didn’t spend the whole night worrying over her friend unlike when she went to other less reputable places.

“Well hello there,” a sleazy voice interrupted her thoughts and she glanced up just in time to see a purple haired vampire slide into her booth. She could already smell the scent of his thrall hanging heavy in the air around her, and she had to fight to keep from wrinkling her nose in disgust. This one was weak, very weak, despite his age probably being somewhere in the late thirties early forties.

He was dressed nicely enough, she supposed with a dressy collared shirt with black vest and dark pants, but dressing nicely didn’t detract from the strange thing on his face. She normally wasn’t one to judge others based solely on appearance, but the odd thing on his face, a brown leather contraption that looked like it was part mask and part brace was off putting for sure. Though it wasn’t nearly as off putting as the arrogant smirk on his lips and the blatant way he was talking to her chest rather than her face.

“Not interested,” she told him flatly turning her gaze away to go back to people watching, hoping he would go away. Even if he had been extraordinarily handsome, charming, and polite she still wouldn’t be interested. She was here to support Hannah and that was it. She had no interest in feeding a vampire tonight.

“Don’t be like that sweetheart, don’t you know who I am?” the man asked cajolingly, though she could hear the undercurrent of anger and frustration in his voice.

“Don’t care, get lost,” she ordered him bluntly, standing up to move away from him.

Somehow she wasn’t surprised when an arm reached out, latching tightly on to her wrist, enough that she was bound to bruise. She was a pretty good judge of character and she had a feeling the vampire who’d decided to try to make her dinner was a grade A creep.

“Listen here you stupid human bitch,” the vampire growled menacingly, “I am Spandam, head of CP9 one of the most influential government politicians in the area. You should be begging on bended knee for me to grace you with my presence.”

“And like I said before I don’t care who you are asshole, let go,” she hissed back furiously.

Almost faster than the normal human eye could follow a hand lashed out and smacked her hard across the face. She could taste blood in her mouth as she stared at him incredulously. Her shock at his actions kept her from defending herself as he pulled her closer.

“Now look what you made me do stupid woman,” he spat angrily, “You’re going to make it up to me, by walking with me to the back and letting me feed human.”

“Like hell,” she informed him yanking her arm out of his grip, despite knowing it would lead to more bruising, and then tossing her drink into his shocked face, “The only way you’d get me back there is with me kicking and screaming. I doubt the hosts of this establishment would like that very much. If anyone’s stupid here it’s you asshole, get lost before I report you.”

“You stupid…” he was about to lunge at her, and she let her hand fall to the defense she carried on her at all times, only for it to prove unnecessary as a metal pole appeared in her vision and lashed out, knocking the vampire back into the booth away from her.

Surprised she glanced up to see another vampire had come to her rescue. Still wary she kept her hand on her weapon as the two vampires squared off. Being close to two fighting vampires was never a good idea for a human, but she really wanted to see the asshole get his comeuppance.

“Do you know who I am?” the purple haired vampire practically screeched as he struggled and failed to get out of the wrecked booth, obviously bleeding from the wood splinters and panting for breath, “I am Spandam of CP9 I will be sending the entire team after you and that whore you stupid…!”

He choked as the other vampire brought his pipe down hard on the man’s throat and pressed it there, choking off his angry babble, “Quit your yapping government dog, you think I care at all for your insignificant little organization? Really goes to show that the Government Coven and its allies are nothing more than pigs and lowlifes who can’t feed on humans without forcing them or enthralling them.”

“R-Rev-Revolutionary,” the purple haired man choked out in shock from behind the pipe.

“That’s right, but this is my home turf, we share this place with Whitebeard and Redhair and their allies, I don’t see either of them allying with government filth, which begs the question, just why are you here?” the other vampire asked his tone was light and probing, with an undertone of hostility that would’ve made anyone wary, let alone this weakling.

The purple haired vampire choked for a bit trying to speak around the pressure on his windpipe before the Revolutionary let up a bit to get answers. He panted for breath for a minute before he answered, “I’m just here to feed like anyone else. I’m not here for trouble. It’s that stupid woman’s fault, coming on to me, she was practically begging for me to feed on her, clearly an addict, and when I said I wouldn’t condone that kind of reckless behavior and perhaps she needed time away from Blood Houses she got violent! I was subduing her, and going to take her to a rehabilitation clinic.”

She had to admit, it was a pretty good lie, even plausible if she had been an addict, which she most certainly wasn’t. In fact all it did was make her livid, “Excuse you?”

Both male vampires turned to look at her, having apparently not realized she was still there, “Since when are ‘Not interested’ and ‘Get lost’ come ons? You insipid, weak, disgusting, gutless, little liar. And an addict really? Do I look like I’m wasting away? My skin isn’t clammy and my pupil dilation is normal, or it should be unless you put something in my drink, which I wouldn’t put past you at this point considering how much thrall you’ve been putting out since you arrived at my table. Which by the way I can smell and you reek!”

This time she was prepared when he launched himself at her snarling in impotent rage. She slid easily out from under his reach following up with a harsh kick to the ribs and an elbow to the gut. The fight was cut short though as once more the pipe appeared once more catching him in the ribs and sending him flying back into the crumbled remains of the booth.

“That was rude,” the Revolutionary commented to the breathless and whimpering vampire who was glaring with all his might at the two of them, “Attacking the lady like that for telling the truth. I was watching from the beginning you know. I heard and saw everything, including your unprovoked attack on her when she turned you down.”

“You see we were wondering what a government dog would be doing in our establishment, looks like you were sniffing around for something eh?” he asked with a predatory smile, “Too bad, even if you did find something, which I doubt, you won’t be getting the opportunity to tell anyone.”

This last bit was said so quietly she almost didn’t hear it, however she did see the dark stain that spread over the front of his pants and she grimaced in distaste as the smell of urine reached her nostrils. The Revolutionary gestured, and two people slipped from the shadows and pulled the now gibbering man up and away.

He then turned towards her and she got her first good look at him. He was tall, over six feet, though his exact height was hard to tell due to the top hat he was wearing, with a solid build that indicated muscle. He was wearing light grey pants tucked into sensible black boots, and a dark blue tunic with a black belt situated around his waist. Over that he was wearing a long black coat, with black gloves on his hands, an elaborate cravat around his neck, and goggles on his top hat. The pipe he had wielded so effectively was strapped to his back.

He had wavy golden blonde hair that fell around his face and bright blue eyes, with a blunted nose, strong jaw and full lips. His most distinct feature after those startling blue eyes was the scar that adorned his right eye, some kind of burn mark if she had to guess. All in all he looked rather dapper, and she found him very attractive, especially as he was now staring at her with a clearly unsure look on his face. Obviously he was uncertain how to interact with her now that the threat of the government vampire was gone.

“Are you alright then Miss?” he asked after a few moments silence.

“I am thank you. Are you part of security here?” she asked curiously.

“Ah, no Miss, security is being handled by the Redhair coven this week, I’m a Revolutionary,” he explained rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Well then Mr. Revolutionary, can I buy you a drink?” she asked curious about the vampire who’d stepped in to save her, even if rescue was technically completely unnecessary, “As a thank you for coming to my aid.”

“Th-that’s not necessary Miss, like I said we were keeping an eye on him anyway, him attacking you just made grabbing him for interrogation more convenient. Not that his attacking you was a good thing!” he tacked on immediately realizing how terrible that sounded.

“So if he wasn’t a person of interest to the Revolutionaries, you wouldn’t have stepped in?” she asked interestedly.

“Of course I would’ve!” he protested immediately, “Any decent vampire should step in to stop another vampire from harassing and attacking a human.”

“Well then, perhaps I choose to view it as you being chivalrous for my sake, and his being a person of interest the convenient part of the scenario, in which case you are certainly more than deserving of a drink, won’t you join me?” she rejoined again.

“I-I if you’re certain Miss, then it would be discourteous of me to refuse,” he replied hesitantly.

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t,” she told him with a smile. His reactions to her sincere gratitude were cute. He wasn’t at all like the other handsome vampires she’d met before, so confident in their looks they felt no need to be polite at all, “Though we’ll need to find a new place to sit.”

He glanced at where she’d been sitting and grimaced at the wreckage he’d caused, then sighed and offered her his arm, “We can go to where I was sitting before.”

Surprised by the old fashioned gesture she hesitated a second before carefully sliding her arm into his, and allowed herself to be escorted. His spot was apparently at the bar, and she was surprised again when he pulled the seat for her, helping her into it before taking a seat himself.

“You’re something else aren’t you?” she mused head tilted in interest before signaling the bartender, “A strawberry daiquiri for me and whatever my gentleman friend here wants please.”

“I’ll have an Irish Coffee please,” the blonde told the man tipping his head politely, before turning back to her, “What do you mean I’m something else?”

“It means I’ve never had a vampire play white knight for me before, or seen one with such impeccable manners,” she explained with a wry smile.

“Maybe you just haven’t met the right vampires,” he argued with a frown.

“Or maybe you’re just special,” she rebutted amused as a slight pink tinge appeared on his cheeks and he broke eye contact. He really was very different interacting with her now than he had been before. Apparently he was very comfortable in his role of commanding, dangerous Revolutionary, not so much when it came to accepting thanks or maybe not used to talking to human women. Either way it was endearing.

“I don’t think I ever got your name Miss,” he told her blatantly changing the subject.

“And I don’t think you gave me yours either Mr. Revolutionary,” she replied amused, allowing the change.

“Beg pardon Miss, my name is Sabo,” he answered with a sheepish smile and a slight bow from his seated position, “A pleasure to meet you Miss.”

“The pleasure is mine Sabo,” she assured him sincerely, “My name is (Name).”

“(Name) huh? It suits you,” he told her with a bright grin, “So what are you doing here then Miss (Name)? Looking to donate to the vampire community?”

“Depends you interested?” she asked laughing at the instant bright blush the and surprised sputtering the question provoked, “Sorry I shouldn’t tease, it’s just you’re awfully cute.”

“Actually I’m here with a friend,” she explained as the vampire recovered, muttering something that sounded distinctly like “m’not cute, m a Revolutionary,” under his breath, “She’s the one donating tonight not me.”

“That’s unusual,” Sabo told her with a confused frown, “Why did you come with her if you weren’t planning on donating yourself and knew you were going to end up alone out here waiting for her?”

“I just worry,” she explained with a wry smile, “Hannah is a really sweet person, and really admires vampires, so she’s more than willing to donate, but she has terrible taste when it comes to choosing who to donate to.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked confused, wondering if he should be offended.

“It means that even in a place like this where most of the vampires are going to be careful and respectful she’d end up getting a jerk. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if I hadn’t come with her, if she’d ended up with Spanda or whatever he said his name was,” she explained sourly, “she has terrible judgment when it comes to vampires.”

“So you came to protect her then?” Sabo clarified interested.

“Something like that,” she answered with a shrug, and at his puzzled face she elaborated, “I tend to have pretty good instincts on who’s a decent being and who isn’t. I was fed up with her choosing ones who treated her badly so I came along scoped the place out and pointed her in the right direction. Like I said she admires vampires a lot, and she’s outgoing, pretty and charming, she deserves someone who’s going to treat her respectfully.”

“So she’s had some bad experiences then,” Sabo replied with a frown.

“Understatement,” she said with a sigh, “I know she’s hidden things from me before, and I know for a fact she’s been called names and treated badly. I don’t think anything has gotten physical, but it would be hard to tell if it did, she’s so resilient.”

“I kept trying to tell her to give it up, but she wouldn’t,” she told him a dark look on her face, “Just this last time though, whoever she went with didn’t give her the proper aftercare. I’m sure you know that after donating blood you’re supposed to rest for a while to allow your endorphin levels to calm down, and drink water and maybe get something to eat, which is supposed to be the vampire’s responsibility. It also helps make sure the vampire hasn’t taken too much blood and gives them access to help if they need it.”

“Whatever jerk fed from her last took too much and then essentially kicked her out. She tried to drive home but she blacked out and nearly caused an accident. She had to go to the hospital for a transfusion!” she spat bitterly, “And yet, she still insists on donating. She wants to be helpful.”

She sighed, “I only just convinced her to let me help her out this time, and only because the accident nearly hurt other people too, otherwise she’d probably be out here by herself because she knows I have no intention of donating.”

“Do you know the name of the vampire who fed from her last?” Sabo asked a dark look on his face.

She laughed, although there was a bitter edge to it, “You think he’d still be alive if I knew? She won’t tell me, she said it was probably just a bad day for him or something. She wants to see the best in everyone.”

“She sounds like a good person,” Sabo told her sincerely, “And it sounds like she has a good friend too.”

She looked at him and smiled the expression soft and kind and it made him flush horribly, “You’re right she really is, and you’re really sweet.”

“I’m glad I got to meet you tonight. It helps restore my faith that not all vampires are just blood sucking leeches with little to no regard for human life,” she says casually.

“You, really dislike vampires huh?” Sabo asked trying to will the heat in his cheeks away.

“No, I try to be as ambivalent to them as any other stranger I meet, but it’s hard when a lot of them treat humans the same way Spanda was trying to treat me earlier,” she explained tiredly.

“It’s not right,” Sabo tells her earnestly, “And someday it’s going to change. We’re working really hard to teach others that it isn’t okay to treat humans as a simple food source. It doesn’t make sense since humans can become like us too, to treat them as lesser beings. Dragon, the leader of our coven is trying really hard to get others to see it that way too, and if they don’t well…”

She’s surprised at the hard look in his eyes, the same one he wore when facing down Spanda earlier, strong and confident and determined, “Well then the world is just better off without them.”

“You really are a white knight huh?” she asks resting her cheek in her palm and smiling at him, watching amused as the confidence fell away and another flush took over his face.

“I’m no knight Miss (Name) just a regular guy trying to do the right thing,” he told her firmly.

“Perhaps, and perhaps not, either way I admire you,” she told him.

“What? Why?” he asked baffled.

“Well for one I like people who are strong in their convictions,” she told him listing it off on her fingers, “for two the conviction you feel strongly about is about equal treatment for humans of which I am one, and for three you’re awfully cute when you blush.”

His face was so red she was surprised he hadn’t caught on fire. However he was saved from further embarrassment by the sound of someone calling her name.

Glancing around she smiled as she waved to the woman who’d emerged from the back, the vampire who’d taken her earlier walking cheerfully alongside her, “Hannah over here!”

“There you are (Name) I’ve been looking for you all over! What happened to the booth we were at? It was all smashed to pieces!” she exclaimed worriedly.

“I had a bit of an altercation with a vampire who wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she told her casually shrugging unconcernedly. Of course her casual attitude didn’t seem to help calm her worried friend, in fact she was pretty sure she’d only made it worse, and now the vampire who’d come with her was frowning as well.

“Are you alright (name)? Now that you mention it your face looks a bit swollen,” she asked gingerly taking your chin in her fingers and inspecting the side of your face that Spanda had punched. Honestly she’d been so preoccupied by Sabo she’d completely forgotten about it.

“I’m completely fine,” (name) assured her firmly, “He just got a lucky hit in, caught me off guard.”

“Did you kill him then?” she asked casually, surprising both vampires, “Or do I need to tell your vampire friend what happened so he can kill him?”

(Name) smiled affectionately. While Hannah was a pushover when it came to herself if anyone hurt her friends she was fiercer than a mother bear, “I didn’t have to kill him, someone intervened first.”

She gestured behind her to Sabo who’d stood when she had to greet her friend, “Hannah this is Sabo, he’s one of the Revolutionary Coven, Sabo this is Hannah my best friend.”

“Thank you for looking out for her,” Hannah told him earnestly, “She’s tougher than most but I worry you know? Especially since she doesn’t like to back down, well, ever.”

“Oye!” (name) protested, “I’m not all that bad.”

“You are,” she replied bluntly.

Soft chuckles from the vampires brought you out of your small argument and you glanced at the redhead who’d taken your friend, “You took care of her then? She ate? Got water?”

“Of course,” he replied looking mildly offended by such questioning.

“(Name)!” Hannah whined, “Don’t be embarrassing!”

“I can’t help it Hannah you nearly died last time!” she informed her flatly, “Excuse me for being overprotective for a bit.”

“I know, sorry (name),” she told her, shoulders slumping dejectedly.

“I already told you, you’re forgiven, though I’d feel better if you’d just fork over his name…” she said leadingly.

Hannah just sighed and shook her head, an amused smile tugging at her lips.

“Please? I’ll only stab him once, promise! I was really, really worried I mean who would stop me from doing stupid things and getting into fights if something happened to you?” she wheedled one last time.

“Once would be all it would take with you,” she huffed with a smile, “And you wouldn’t get in trouble if you could just let things go, I mean standing up for others is a good thing, it’s how we became friends in the first place remember? But not at the cost of your life (name) and as for keeping you out of fights, sounds like I might have help in the future. What do you think Sabo? Care to help me out?”

“Hannah will you please stop trying to set me up with a vampire?” she groaned before Sabo had the chance to respond.

“Come on (name) you have to try it sometime! It feels really good. I promise you’ll enjoy it,” she cajoled, “And besides it looks like you’ve finally found one you like. I’m sure Sabo would take good care of you.”

“I never said I was against donating, only that I’d wait for the right vampire. I just can’t trust as easily as you and I’ve only known Sabo for a night, it’ll take more than that to convince me, and you know it so please drop it,” she said tiredly. It was an argument the two of them had been having for a while now and she wasn’t in the mood to rehash it.

“Well okay, but Sabo I already have plans to come back next weekend and I’m sure I can drag (name) along with me. Can you meet us here?” she asked hopefully. (name) groaned in embarrassment and hid her face in her hands.

“I really wish I could,” Sabo told them, sounding truly regretful, “But next weekend is my monthly trip with my brothers. There’s no way I could blow that off even for a new friend.”

“That’s alright Sabo don’t worry about it,” (name) assured him, flattered that he would like to come if he could, “I wasn’t planning on coming back.”

“But (name) I thought you were worried about me?” Hannah pleaded, staring up at her with puppy dog eyes.

“If you’ve already made plans, then it’s obvious you’ve agreed to come back to see him again,” she informed her friend completely unaffected by the cute gesture, indicating the vampire standing behind the two of them who was watching their interaction with a bemused smile, “And from your lively attitude it’s also obvious he took good care of you, so I see no reason to worry or come back. Besides Sabo already said he can’t come so leave it alone.”

“I-I would be free the weekend after next if you’d like?” Sabo offered hesitantly, receiving a beaming smile from Hannah.

“Perfect! We’ll just have to come again then too,” she agreed instantly.

“Look, even if I agree to come chat with you again, it doesn’t mean I’ll agree to feed you,” (name) told him bluntly, figuring it was best to get it out in the open first.

“That’s fine,” he replied immediately and with no hesitation, which lifted him further in her good books, “I’d still like to talk to you, you’re a really interesting person (name).”

She softened and smiled at him again, “And you’re still very sweet, alright agreed. I’ll come back the weekend after next.”

“And next weekend,” Hannah insisted.

“Why next weekend?” she asked skeptically.

“Thatch is going to bring his mate Izo to meet me too and I want moral support,” she whispered quietly into (name’s) ear, staring up at her uncertainly.

“Alright,” she caved instantly, “I’ll come both weekends.”

Hannah cheered eagerly, “Thanks (name) you’re the best!”

She smiled amused at her friend and just shook her head before turning and bowing to Thatch, “Thank you for taking such good care of her for me. Hannah is my best friend and it means a lot to me.”

“Of course!” Thatch replied seriously, “I can see the two of you mean a lot to each other. Your friend’s a good woman and she deserves to be treated as such.”

She smiled warmly at him and nodded, “She is.”

“(Name)!” Hannah warbled tearfully hugging on to her tightly.

She just hugged back amused, “I think it’s time we get going, you only get this sentimentally mushy when you’re really tired.”

She flushed embarrassed, but couldn’t argue.

“Thanks again Thatch, and thanks to you as well Sabo, see you soon,” she told them latching on to her friend and beginning to guide her out of the Blood House.

“Bye Sabo, it was nice to meet you! Bye Thatch, don’t forget our promise okay?” she called as she was tugged out.

(Name) completely missed the conspiratorial wink Hannah tossed over her shoulder, and Thatch’s mischievous smile in return but Sabo didn’t.

“I won’t forget Hannah,” Thatch promised ignoring the curious, protective look Sabo was leveling at him, “See you next week.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Special thanks to my beta (who's also my sister) for reading everything first and letting me bounce ideas off her. You Rock!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Piece belongs to Oda but this story belongs to me :)

“Oy! Anyone in there?”

Sabo jerked away from the hand waving in his face in surprise, “What!?”

“Your marshmallow was on fire, but I think it’s disintegrated into burnt sugar particles by now,” his brother Ace informed him dryly, “Which wouldn’t have happened if you responded the first time I called your name.”

“Oh, sorry,” Sabo acknowledged, glancing at the end of the stick he’d been using to toast marshmallows for s’mores and finding nothing but faint charred remains on the end of it. Absently he wondered if it was worth it to try to make another one before deciding he wasn’t hungry and throwing the stick into the campfire to burn. Watching the stick slowly turn to ash he absently wondered how (name) was doing back at the Blood House. 

After she’d left last week he’d confronted Thatch on why Hannah had winked at him, concerned and feeling more than a bit protective of his new friend. However Thatch had refused to tell him anything until he’d given some information first.

The redheaded vampire wanted to know exactly what had gone down in the booth she’d been sitting at because it smelled like blood and piss, and if he knew any details on why (name) was so protective of her friend.

Deciding that getting the information he wanted would be worth the trade he hadn’t spared any detail. He’d told his fellow vampire all about the government dog, Spandam, and how the pretty human woman had been completely unafraid of both him and of Sabo despite seeing how strong he was, along with being so immune to Spandam’s thrall that she could actually smell it.

Both he and Thatch had been impressed by her bravery, as humans tended to get upset or afraid when vampires had confrontations in their vicinity. This particular human though had not only stood her ground, but maintained her wits and sharp tongue, along with proving she truly was capable of protecting herself landing a few hits of her own when the vampire attacked her. Even if the vampire in question was a weakling, it was still incredibly impressive for a human.

Thatch had then admitted that he and Hannah had actually talked a bit about (name) too, as he was curious about the overprotective friend who had come with his feeding partner for the evening. He hadn’t gotten too many details, far more interested in the pretty and very sweet girl offering her blood, but what he had gotten was that the two were very close.

Apparently the two girls had known each other a long time, since grade school, and had been good friends since their very first meeting. Of the two of them (name) was the stronger one, but also the less trusting one, and it had been very obvious that Hannah respected and cared for (name) a lot. She’d admitted she considered the other girl family with ease.

Sabo then told Thatch what he had gleaned from (name) about why she was so protective of her friend. To say Thatch was livid was an understatement. Sabo didn’t actually know the Whitebeard coven member well, but the one thing he did know, thanks to Ace, was that the man was laidback to a fault. If he was getting this worked up over Hannah’s treatment, it was either because he liked her a whole hell of a lot, or because he felt very strongly about the proper treatment of humans.

Sabo got the feeling it was a bit of both, and after Thatch had calmed down some they discussed keeping an ear out for any information regarding the vampire who’d almost inadvertently gotten Hannah killed. Thatch mused that maybe between himself and his mate Izo they could wheedle it out of her when she came back next week.

Sabo had been more than a little surprised that the other vampire was bringing his notoriously picky mate to meet a human, but Thatch had gotten a strange, surprisingly soft look on his face, and insisted that Hannah was something special, and he was sure Izo would like her.

Part of Sabo, the part that always liked to know everything, was wondering if Thatch’s being here in the first place, and now bringing Izo in meant the rumors were true and the couple was looking for a third. He didn’t dare ask though, partly out of respect for the other vampire and partly because if Ace ever found out he was prying into the love lives of his friends his fiery brother would wreak supreme vengeance.

He came to regret that shortly thereafter though as Thatch began to tease him about (name). Apparently he’d caught on to Sabo’s embarrassment, and admiration for the woman and was not above taking ruthless advantage and teasing the hell out of him.

It had taken a lot of ribbing, but eventually Sabo had, had enough and confessed to liking her, a lot, which was strange as they’d only spoken briefly. Thatch had warned him if he liked her he better call dibs quick, because even in the short interaction with her he could tell she was something special, something interesting.

Of course in order to rile Sabo even further he’d admitted that the thing Hannah had been asking him not to forget was to bring along a friend for (name) to meet and talk to next week. He’d been warned that (name) would in all likelihood not allow this vampire to feed on her, but Hannah hadn’t wanted her to be lonely.

Plus apparently (name) had never actually been fed on by a vampire before. Hannah had told Thatch it was partly because it was hard for (name) to trust people, and partly because she hadn’t found the right vampire. Hannah had also admitted sadly that she thought maybe part of (name’s) refusal was because of some of Hannah’s bad experiences.

She’d been desperately hoping to introduce (name) to a nice, preferably male, vampire, and finally get her to try the feeding thing. Thus she’d asked Thatch if he had any friends who might be willing to get to know (name) well enough to convince her to try.

That was before they’d realized that (name) had met Sabo, and Thatch had wondered if she might call it off, but apparently she was still moving forward with it. Since Thatch had agreed to it already, and it was what Hannah wanted he was not going to be backing out despite knowing now that Sabo was interested.

Sabo had insisted he wasn’t just interested in her blood, he liked her and wanted to know her. She was a bit of a puzzle and he’d always had a bit of a weakness for puzzles.

Thatch had been somewhat sympathetic, but not enough to change his mind. He’d told Sabo that he’d been looking to find a mate for several of his coven brothers for a long time now, being a self-proclaimed match-maker. The Whitebeard coven was pretty notorious for the number of single males it held, largely in part because they were so picky.

He’d admitted that Hannah had been so intriguing to him that he would’ve brought along the best for her friend either way, but upon actually meeting said friend and hearing what Sabo had told him about her he was truly starting to hope one of them would take a genuine interest in her.

Sabo hadn’t been pleased with that, and could admit to himself it was because he, like all vampires was more than a bit possessive especially of his pretty new friend, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now, only hope, rather selfishly, that (name) didn’t like whoever Thatch had brought for her to meet, and that she would still be interested in meeting with him the week after.

The thought of seeing her again, brought a surge of nervous anticipation, coupled with embarrassment. He really hoped she had liked him as much as he liked her. She’d called him a white knight hadn’t she? Girls liked that kind of thing, didn’t they? It…

“Alright that’s it!” the frustrated cry pulled him from his musings and brought his attention to his brother just in time to get his guard up a bit as Ace launched himself at him. Seeing their fight their younger brother Luffy, never one to be left out, immediately joined in to make it a free-for-all.

The resulting tussle between them resulted in several bruises, a couple of knocked down trees, and an almost accident with the campfire, but at the end of it all three were satisfied, panting for breath and exhausted as they lay in a circle, heads together, in the center of a clearing that they were going to be camping in for the night.

“Now are you going to tell us what the hell is going on with you?” Ace demanded from his spot on the ground.

“What?” Sabo asked confused.

“Don’t be stupid, even Luffy’s noticed something’s on your mind besides hanging out with us,” Ace snapped annoyed.

“Sabo’s been daydreaming all day! You didn’t even notice when I took your hotdogs and you burnt your marshmallow!” Luffy chimed in anxiously.

“It’s nothing,” Sabo told them, feeling warm at their concern, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Too late,” Ace bit out with a frustrated huff.

“Come on Sabo! Brothers shouldn’t keep secrets from each other,” Luffy insisted with a worried frown, “Right Ace?”

“That’s right Lu,” Ace confirmed shooting Sabo a vindicated look, knowing that if Luffy was now insisting then Sabo would have to cave. After all a concerned Luffy, while sweet, could also be terribly annoying.

“I told you it’s nothing,” Sabo insisted, then heaved a sigh, “It’s just… I met someone the other night at the Blood House at the central district.”

“Human or vampire?” Ace asked interestedly, propping himself up on his elbows so he could see his blond brother better. 

“Human, a woman,” Sabo admitted.

“So?” Luffy asked curiously, “It’s just a woman.”

“She’s not just a woman!” Sabo snapped immediately, then flushed and groaned as both his brothers gaped at him in surprise.

“She was special okay? And interesting,” he admitted covering his face with his hands.

“Interesting how?” Ace prompted suspiciously.

Knowing neither brother would let it go now the whole story spilled from his lips, about meeting her, and his conversation with Ace’s coven mate Thatch after.

“So Thatch thought she was interesting too?” Ace asked really intrigued now. Neither Sabo nor Thatch took an interest in specific humans very often.

“Her friend Hannah more than her, but yes her too,” Sabo rejoined tiredly.

“Huh, I guess that’s why he asked me if I wanted to go to the Blood House today, and here I thought he was just anxious about Izo meeting the girl he found,” Ace mused aloud.

“He asked you?!” Sabo demanded shocked.

“Oy! I will have you know that I am a catch,” Ace informed him with a smirk, “Now I’m almost sorry I had to say no, though.”

“Do you know who he took?” Sabo asked completely ignoring the previous statement.

“No, probably Jozu, Vista or Haruta though. They’re the ones looking for mates right now,” Ace told him with a shrug before eyeing him interestedly, “You’re actually really anxious about this girl huh?”

Sabo said nothing, but the pink tinge to his cheeks gave him away as he refused to meet Ace’s eyes.

“I wanna meet (name),” Luffy announced suddenly, surprising both his brothers, “I wanna see an interesting human too.”

“I don’t think…” Sabo began, trying to discourage him without hurting his feelings, not wanting (name) to be bombarded by his overenthusiastic little brother just yet.

“That’s a great idea Lu!” Ace butted in eagerly a teasing grin on his face, which had never really lost the vicious edge it had held since childhood, not that Sabo could say anything as he knew his was just as bad.

“When did you say you were meeting her again? Next Saturday right?” Ace mused a wicked twinkle in his eye, “I’m not doing anything then. How about you Luffy?”

“Nope!” Luffy chirped eagerly, “Don’t think so.”

“I would really…” Sabo tried one last time.

“Okay it’s settled!” Ace interrupted cheerfully, “We meet next week at the Blood house, to meet Sabo’s new friend.”

Sabo groaned as Luffy cheered his agreement in the background, burying his head in his hands. He just hoped (name) would forgive him for unleashing his two brothers on her without warning, and still want to talk to him afterwards.

…~oO*Oo~…

“I really don’t see why all this was necessary,” (name) complained to Hannah unhappily, tugging at the skirt she’d been forced to wear, “You’re the one trying to impress Thatch’s mate not me.”

“Thatch told me that Izo is very fashion forward and stylish,” Hannah rejoined instantly, “And I really want him to like me and since you’re my friend what you wear reflects on me too. Are you really sure I look okay?”

(Name) eyed her friend thoroughly, looking to see if anything was out of place, knowing that Hannah wouldn’t be satisfied with a simple ‘you look fine.’ Her friend was wearing a sea foam green dress with a sweetheart neckline and ruffled skirt that fell to her knees. Around her waist was a pale green band that emphasized her small waist. The neckline was very vogue right now because while the actual neckline was sweetheart, above that it had a sheer piece of lace that fastened around her neck, giving a teasing view of the skin beneath.

The color was one they both agreed went nicely with her chin length straight honey blond hair and cornflower blue eyes. They’d gone with a slightly smoky eye in a subtle gold color to emphasize the warm color of her skin, and compliment the light pink gloss she wore on her lips.

For accessories she had gold bangles on her wrist, and pretty fawn colored flats. In her ears she wore simple diamond studs, and she had a small over the shoulder fawn colored purse to match her shoes. She looked good, and Thatch and his mate Izo had better approve or she would be having words with them.

“You look great Hannah,” she assured her, “Izo will definitely approve.”

Hannah looked back at her, inspecting her in turn. She had somehow allowed herself to be talked into a skirt. She’d argued for pants, trying to use the Spanda guy’s attack on her last time as an excuse, but Hannah was hearing none of it, insisting on the tight black pencil skirt. Luckily in compromise she’d been allowed to wear her knee high black boots, though Hannah had raised a skeptical eyebrow at the three-inch heels, trying to throw her argument about being able to fight back at her.

Hannah had quickly eaten those words though, as she proved more than capable of fighting in those heels, doing a backflip to prove her point. She’d nearly ripped the skirt in the process though, and Hannah had thrown a fit, while she pouted at the missed opportunity.

On top she was wearing a shimmery silver long sleeved top that flowed nicely around her and felt silky smooth on her skin. It was very modestly cut in the front, but from the back, not so much. Outside of the thick piece of stretch knit material that held the shirt down around her hips, a small loop around her neck and the back parts of her billowing sleeves her back was entirely bare, which made her feel very exposed.

However it made Hannah happy, so she wasn’t about to complain. Her thick curly brown hair was held up and away from her neck in a high messy bun, and her blue-grey eyes were outlined in black to give them extra pop. On her lips she wore the same pale pink gloss as her friend.

For accessories she wore small silver hoops, along with small diamond studs in the two other piercings in her earlobes, and another in the cartilage on her right ear. In her hand she carried a small black clutch that held her phone and money.

All in all she felt very fashionable and more than a bit wary, knowing she looked like she was there to let a vampire feed on her. For Hannah’s sake though, she resigned herself to a night fending off creeps who wouldn’t take no for an answer. To that end she had several daggers hidden on her person, not that Hannah knew that.

“You look good too (name) we’ll definitely knock them dead,” Hannah said confidently as they paid their entry fee to the bored looking vampire at the door and headed inside.

“Look there they are!” Hannah hissed into her ear, pulling her from her thoughts and gesturing to a table near the back. She noted with amusement that it was actually the same spot she’d been in last time before Spanda had bugged her, the two of them were standing in front of the booth, which had obviously been repaired sometime during the week.

Glancing over the occupants she immediately recognized Thatch, the pompadour was pretty unmistakable. He was again wearing a nice white button down and black slacks. The person he was standing with was a surprise though.

He had a very strange haircut, with all but the top of his head shaved, the blonde tufts of hair on the top sticking up everywhere. He was wearing a long sleeved purple shirt rolled to the elbows, which was completely open, exposing a muscular torso with the symbol of the Whitebeard Coven tattooed over an impressively toned chest and abs. 

On his legs he wore loose dark blue capris, with a lighter blue sash tied around his waist emphasized by a heavy golden belt. On his feet he wore what looked like old fashioned straw sandals that laced up his shins and an odd band around his right shin that reminded her of a hula skirt.

She immediately grabbed her friends arm to halt their progress and hissed incredulously, “That’s Izo? Fashion conscious, gorgeous Izo?”

Yes the man was attractive, at least from this distance, but in no way would she call any of what he was wearing ‘fashion forward.’

“No!” Hannah hissed back when she saw who she was indicating, giving her an ‘are you an idiot’ look, “That’s Izo in the booth!”

(Name) glanced back and saw the two men had shifted aside revealing a third man, and she had to double take to actually make sure he was a man, giving his chest a very thorough glance just to make sure. Even then she wasn’t sure because Izo was obviously the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life. His long black hair was piled elegantly on his head, his make-up was immaculate, and he was wearing the most recent designer kimono to come out of the Doskoi Panda line.

“Well damn,” was all she could think to say, until she registered again that there were three men there instead of the promised two.

“And who’s the blond then?” she asked suspiciously, turning her wary gaze on her friend.

“Who knows?” Hannah told her faux casually, “Only one way to find out though!”

(Name) allowed herself to be dragged forward, quietly plotting revenge. She’d known Hannah too long to think she didn’t have something to do with this. Unfortunately it was too late to back out now. Especially since Thatch had obviously spotted them and was waving and grinning widely in their direction.

“Well, well, looks like my two favorite human women have arrived at last,” he moved forward to happily sweep Hannah into a warm embrace, lingering slightly, and whispering something in her ear that made her giggle, before turning to a shocked (name) and hugging her too before she could protest.

“This is my beautiful mate Izo,” Thatch told them gesturing to the dark haired vampire, who’d stood on their arrival to greet them. Izo quickly shook hands with both of them, eyeing them rather boredly, though he seemed to be more focused on Hannah.

“And this is our good friend Marco,” he finished gesturing to the blond, who also shook their hands.

Up close she noticed his face was rather long, and his eyes were heavy lidded, giving him a slightly bored look naturally, combined with his thick lips and slight scruff it made him more rugged than traditionally handsome. Not that it made him any less attractive to her. 

There was also an air about him that made her a bit wary. He was strong, very strong. She’d been trained to notice such things, and while she’d noticed Thatch and Izo were very strong for vampires as well, this one was on a whole other level from them.

“Izo and Marco, these are my new friends Hannah and (name),” he told them finishing out the introduction.

“Nice to meet you,” Hannah chirped happily to both of them, while (name) simply nodded politely.

“I figured we could all chat for a while and get to know one another better, so (name) won’t have to worry as much when Hannah comes to the back with us,” Thatch said cheerfully gesturing to the booth.

“I see they rebuilt it,” (name) remarked wryly, “So long as it was cleaned thoroughly I suppose I don’t mind.”

Izo’s nose wrinkled in distaste, “I would certainly hope they did.”

“Of course, of course,” Thatch assured him immediately with a grin, proving it by sliding in first, and gesturing for Hannah to follow. She did so and Izo slid in next to her leaving her and Marco to sit together on the opposite side.

She fought the urge to glare at Hannah for her obvious matchmaking attempts, that she had obviously coerced Thatch if not Izo into helping her with. Then glanced up at the blond and back to the booth.

“Ladies first ~yoi,” he said politely gesturing for her to go.

The idea of being boxed in on all sides by powerful vampires with no way to escape was not at all appealing to her, “This lady is wearing a skirt, and I’m sorry to say booths and skirts don’t mix well thank you very much.”

She heard a snort from the other side of the table, but didn’t relinquish eye contact with Marco. He offered her an amused grin, but acquiesced sliding in first. She spent another couple seconds cursing her friend in her mind before carefully sliding in next to him.

“So how was your week? Any other fun vampire encounters?” Thatch asked apparently perfectly happy to be the icebreaker at the table.

“Not too bad,” Hannah answered immediately a bright smile on her face, “As for vampire encounters, yes actually. My class just got its first vampire student. We spent all week in briefings with some of the vampire teachers and the student’s Coven. She seems to be settling in well enough, though her father appears to be a bit overprotective I think it’s to be expected. She’s the youngest of his Coven I think, and a bit shy.”

“You’re a teacher then?” Marco asked politely.

“Yes, I teach kindergarten,” Hannah told him happily.

“You like kids?” Thatch asked interestedly, apparently they hadn’t actually talked about this last week.

“I love them,” Hannah answered completely unabashed, “Especially at that age, where they think school is wonderful, and we get to do all sorts of fun things together. What about you guys what do you do?”

“I’m a chef,” Thatch proclaimed excitedly, “I do a lot of private catering, and all the food stuff for our Coven, you know outside the blood thing.”

“I mostly work for pops, that’s the head of our Coven Whitebeard,” Marco admitted with a shrug at a prompting look from Thatch, “But I do a bit of fire rescue on the side.”

Everyone turned to Izo who heaved a put upon sigh, “I’m a fashion designer with Doskoi Panda, though I’m in the process of creating my own line.”

“That’s exciting,” Hannah told him with a smile, “What’s your focus?”

“Mostly formal wear,” Izo replied with an elegant shrug, a bored look on his face. The conversation lagged for a moment before Hannah turned desperately to her obviously Izo was not impressed, and it was beginning to become awkward.

“So what do you do (name)?” Thatch asked apparently sensing the lag and hoping to salvage the conversation.

“A little bit of everything really,” she told him casually, “I actually did some cooking for a while, was an EMT for a bit, worked in retail until I got bored, did some interning in different businesses, right now I do specialized weapons and self-defense training on the side.”

“What kind of weapons ~yoi?” Marco prompted interestedly.

“All sorts, knives, swords, guns, I’m actually a licensed firearms instructor,” she admitted.

“Firearms huh?” Izo asked looking interested for the first time all night, “What’s your preferred brand then?”

“I’m a Sig Saur girl, when I use them, though I prefer knives myself, Hannah’s the Annie Oakley of the two of us,” (name) told them.

Izo looked skeptically at the innocent looking Hannah who gave her a flat look, “How many times have I told you not to call me that?”

“I lost count, and I’ll stop calling you that when you stop carrying that piece in your purse, besides you earned the nickname, you did win that national competitive shooting competition remember?” she prompted with a grin.

Hannah hugged her purse defensively to her chest as all the males eyed it with shock, “Don’t judge me! I know for a fact you have at least three knives on you right now. Don’t think I don’t know you snuck them out!”

“They would’ve been much easier to sneak if you hadn’t forced me into this skirt,” she told her friend dryly.

“It looks good on you, and it makes your ass look fabulous, I refuse to have regrets,” Hannah argued back.

“She’s right you know, it does look very nice on you,” Izo piped in with a smile.

“You see?!” Hannah insisted gesturing at Izo, not even realizing what she was doing too focused on the argument to worry about impressing him, “Izo agrees with me, and Izo obviously knows fashion so I win.”

“Just because Izo works in fashion doesn’t make him the be all end all of all things fashionable, and I could’ve looked just as nice in pants and had much more space for my knives,” she told her purposely provoking her friend.

Hannah gasped mortally offended, “I will have you know that Izo obviously knows fashion, because the Kimono he’s wearing is perfectly tailored to him. Do you see how the pale lavender nicely compliments his skin tone? Plus it’s obvious someone has worked on it masterfully because this particular Doskoi Panda kimono only came out for women. See how it’s been fit to set nicely and take in his broader shoulders? The darker purple collar has been added, before it only had those dark purple accents, but the collar gives it a more masculine flair while emphasizing a slender neck. The red sashing at the hips helps balance off the wide collar, and emphasize a nice figure! No one who dresses that well can be considered anything less than fashion expert!”

“Alright I get it geez, Izo is very lovely,” she told her friend amused at her very long and very detailed rant, but it had gotten the job done, as Izo was now beaming at Hannah.

“I really like the red myself! Plus the sashing actually gives me room for this,” Izo put in, lifting a bit to reveal the handles of two pistols on his hips.

“Smith and Wesson!” Hannah said rapturously eyeing the two guns hungrily, and the two were off chatting away happily about all things guns and fashion while the rest of the table looked on.

(Name) smirked, completely satisfied with herself, even as Thatch practically glowed watching the two interact, his eyes shining happily.

“That was very well done ~yoi,” a soft voice whispered in her ear raising goose bumps on her skin, quiet enough to not interrupt the two chatting across from them.

She turned to look at Marco propping her elbow on the back of the booth and angling her body toward him, giving him her most innocent look, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Marco just smirked at her, clearly amused, “I would really like to know how we went from discussing our careers to arguing about guns and fashion.”

“So would I, it certainly has been an interesting conversation,” she countered saucily, admitting to nothing.

“I think that you are a very interesting woman Miss (name),” Marco told her with a slow smile.

“I’m sorry I don’t think I can say the same, seeing as I know absolutely nothing about you,” she told him candidly.

“Ouch, you’re also apparently a cruel woman ~yoi,” Marco told her chuckling, “Or is that your way of asking me about myself?”

“If you’ve got something to share with the class, then by all means,” she told him gesturing for him to go ahead. The sound of cloth rustling interrupted their conversation, and they turned around to see Thatch, Izo, and Hannah all standing to leave.

“Sorry,” Thatch said with a mischievous smile on his face, “We didn’t mean to interrupt you two, but we’re going to head back to the back rooms now. We’ll see you in a bit.”

“Have fun you two,” Izo put in with a conspiratorial grin.

“Play nice (name),” Hannah warned her with a smirk, before the three of them set off arm in arm.

“I think I might’ve created a monster,” (name) mused aloud with a sigh.

“You have no idea,” Marco told her wryly.

“Oh?” she prompted interestedly.

“Izo and Thatch are the nosiest, pushiest match-making couple who ever lived,” Marco informed her bluntly.

She groaned and fought the urge to bang her had on the table in exasperation, “Hannah is just as bad.”

The two of them shared a commiserating glance, before she turned away and slid out of the booth.

“Going somewhere ~yoi?” Marco asked with a slight frown, “I didn’t realize my company was so abhorrent.”

“Just over here,” she assured him, sliding into the other side of the booth, “I have no interest in getting a crick in my neck or back, twisting around like that just to talk to you.”

“So what do you want to talk about for the next few hours?” she asked settling in comfortably.

“You really think it will take them that long?” Marco asked in surprise.

“It certainly did last time,” she admitted with a wry smile, “And for some reason I get the feeling that if we ditch each other or them, we’ll never hear the end of it.”

“You’re probably right,” he acknowledged with a tired sigh, “At least it’s with good company this time, so tell me about you then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally figured out the End Notes! Thanks to everyone who left Kudos or bookmarked this fic, you guys are awesome :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One Piece belongs to Oda but this story belongs to me!

Marco was a bit hesitant to admit it, mostly because if he did it meant he’d never hear the end of it, but he was actually kind of glad Thatch had convinced him to come with tonight. It had been a close thing because he knew what Thatch was up to, trying to set him up again.

He’d actually lost count of the number of times either Thatch or Izo would try to set him up with someone, hoping he would find a mate. They’d tried everything, human, vampire, male, female, older, younger, and every combination thereof to no avail. It wasn’t that their picks for his dates weren’t interesting, some had even lasted a month or two, but none of them seemed to actually catch and hold his attention for long.

He knew he worried them a bit, after all he was technically the oldest unmated member of their Coven, and hadn’t shown an interest in having a permanent partnership with any one person, well, ever. Maybe he was being too picky, but he just wanted someone who met his list of requirements.

He was looking for someone who could act maturely but still have fun, someone who he could have interesting conversations and debates with who wouldn’t just agree with everything he said, someone who wasn’t afraid to stand up to him or tell him he was wrong, someone who wouldn’t let him walk all over them, someone who wasn’t interested in him just because he was Whitebeard’s right hand, but who liked him, Marco, just plain old Marco.

The last one was unsurprisingly the most difficult. For whatever reason men and women, human and vampire alike flocked to him when they found out how powerful and politically connected he was, with no actual interest in him, just in how they could use him to their advantage.

It was one of the reasons he actually preferred humans over vampires. With vampires you never knew where their allegiances might lie, and they were extremely hard to read. More than once in their Coven one of the brothers had gotten close to taking a mate only to realize they were only interested in getting close to Whitebeard, either hoping to influence or assassinate him. Marco as Whitebeard’s right hand was a prime target for these kinds of vampires.

Humans on the other hand were a lot easier to read, mostly because they couldn’t trick his senses the way vampires could. When human’s lied their hearts raced and their pupils dilated. Something easily detected by a vampire in close proximity. Vampires whose hormones and blood were completely different from humans didn’t have the same responses, or really any response at all.

Despite that he honestly hadn’t thought it would be all that difficult, and yet here he was, already past his first century of life with no mate to show for it. His pops had told him not to worry about it, after all they could live well into their thousands if they weren’t killed off. Pops himself was seven hundred and eighty-five and still as spry as ever, and had assured Marco he was just a baby in comparison and eventually someone would come along who met all Marco’s criteria if he just kept looking.

The problem was lately he’d been feeling pretty lonely. Admittedly his coven was famous for their sheer number of single males, but that didn’t mean there weren’t plenty of happy pairs, triads and so on either. There were actually a lot more of these relationships than outsiders thought, but they liked to keep that private.

It didn’t help that he was seeing those happy couples everywhere he turned nowadays, what with Thatch and Izo having paired up, and that was the other thing. Thatch and Izo were now looking to add a female third. Both men enjoyed women as well as men, and both were hoping to find someone who might be willing to have a child with them. After all it was very difficult for vampires to have children and it sometimes took decades, Thatch and Izo had decided that the sooner they started trying the sooner and more likely it was they’d get their wish.

Of course this had prompted him to start thinking about children of his own. Several of his brothers were actually die hard bachelors, with absolutely no interest in children, ever, but he wasn’t one of them. In fact the idea of a child, his child was surprisingly appealing once he got to thinking about it. 

The problem being, of course that he would have to find a willing woman to mate and have children with. He’d briefly considered adopting, but had tossed that idea almost as soon as it occurred. Though he admired people who adopted, and was a big fan of the process he was a vampire, and vampire children never came up for adoption. If something happened to the parents there was always a next of kin available and more than willing to take the child since they were so rare.

He also wasn’t enough of an optimist or a masochist to adopt a human child. After all the only humans allowed to be turned were future mates, and that meant the only way for the child to become a vampire is if they were chosen by another vampire later in life. 

Considering the plethora of possibilities out there it was unlikely, especially since a human raised in a vampire coven was automatically alienated from other covens due to their allegiance with the one who raised them. Since vampires lived for so long, it was pretty much a guarantee that the child would grow old and die and the vampire would continue to not look a day passed thirty.

He himself could easily pass as mid twenties despite being over a century and he would likely stay that way for another century at least. It was only through childhood that vampires aged quickly, aging like a human child until they hit twenty-one and then they pretty much stopped, aging slower than molasses after that magical age. That meant any human child he tried to adopt would die far before he did, and he didn’t think he’d be able to stand the grief if he got especially attached, which he knew he would, that was the whole point after all.

All of this meant once every few months he caved to his brothers attempts at finding him a mate, despite no luck so far. He either found them boring, or found they were looking to be his mate for all the wrong reasons. 

Having caved to a date that had ended disastrously just a week ago he was more than willing to put his foot down this time despite how much Thatch had insisted this one was special. By this point he’d heard that line over a hundred times, and frankly he was getting sick of it.

However Izo had stepped in then to speak to him. His cross-dressing brother had confided in Marco how worried he was about this meeting. He wanted it to go well, he really did. Both he and Thatch were looking forward to having a child, but neither were looking for something as simple as a baby mama, someone to have a child for them and nothing else.

No they were looking for someone to be an equal, to be another mate to them and share in their partnership as an equal. Izo had been sure it would take a good long while, having just decided to start looking a couple weeks ago, but then last week Thatch had come home, after an impulsive trip to the Blood House they shared with the Red Hair and Revolutionary Covens.

He’d had the same dopey grin on his face that he’d had after meeting Izo for the first time all those years ago. Marco had recognized it instantly, and had been shocked that Thatch had found someone he liked so quickly, especially since he and a good majority of his brothers were still looking and had been for years.

Thatch had put it all down to luck and good karma and then proceeded to talk their ears off about this girl Hannah and her friend (name). All week it had been Hannah this, Hannah that, with the occasional mention of (name). He was smitten and it was very obvious.

Unfortunately Izo was having the same trouble Marco was about believing Thatch had found someone so quickly, but unlike Marco his concern about the issue also came with a long list of insecurities.

Izo had been human before he met Thatch who was born a vampire, and had been turned by him, but not until after a long and very difficult wooing period on Thatch’s part as he tried to convince Izo that yes, he was extremely attracted to him, and yes he really did want him to be his mate. The problem of course stemmed from Izo’s cross-dressing.

Their courtship had actually happened close to fifty years ago now, and back then society hadn’t been nearly as accepting of people like Izo who liked to wear women’s clothing. Back then he’d been desperately struggling to fit in and hide his “strange fetish” away from the eyes of others lest he be condemned for it. 

Thatch had actually stumbled across Izo in women’s clothing completely by accident, and had, had a hell of a time convincing him he wasn’t going to be shouting Izo’s secret from the rooftops. The area a then human Izo had lived in was pretty rough, and it wasn’t at all welcoming to “queers”. There had actually been several beatings and even a murder or two in that area of people like Izo.

Interestingly enough these were all human on human murders. Vampire society, despite living for so long, had learned to be much more fluid and accepting a long time ago. This was in part because vampirism had been spread around the continents ages ago. No one area had stronger or older vampires than any other, and while human technology was different in different areas, vampires tended to prefer hand to hand combat over fancy gadgets. 

This meant that vampires and their covens weren’t likely to try to pick fights with one another as both sides would likely be fairly equal resulting in heavy losses on both sides. Not to say it didn’t happen, but back then there had been a lot fewer vampires and a lot more space so they didn’t run into each other nearly as often.

That all changed with World War I, when someone decided because vampires were stronger, faster, and harder to kill that they should be drafted into the military. It was then guns and other weaponry rose to prominence in vampire fights, and the vampire population began to grow unchecked as more and more were created to fill up the ranks of the armies.

It wouldn’t be until after World War II that there would be limits put on the turning of vampires. Someone somewhere had finally realized that if the vampire population suddenly greatly outstripped the human one, they’d all be in a lot of trouble. Thus the elder vampires, those over five hundred at the time had all come together and set down rules that had to be enforced, namely no turning anyone who wasn’t a mate.

It was agreed that anyone caught turning a human without permission would be sentenced to death along with the entirety of their coven. The harsh penalty had been enough to keep the rule in play, and no one had dared to break it after the first couple times a coven was massacred down to the last man.

Izo hadn’t known any of this at the time, the information was kept fairly close to the chest in vampire society, mostly because a good majority of them thought themselves above humans who they often deemed ‘barbaric.’ Thatch had been forced to jump through several hoops to earn Izo’s trust and assure him that no matter what he was wearing he always thought of him as a man and never thought any less of him for it.

With Thatch at his side and obviously deeply in love with him Izo’s confidence had risen exponentially over the years. He was actually at the point where he would wear women’s clothing and nothing else, whereas before he hadn’t worn any of it in public, ever. It helped that society had become more accepting, though everyone knew there were still radicals out there, it didn’t bother Izo who was more than capable of defending himself nowadays.

However just because his confidence had risen didn’t mean he was above the occasional bout of insecurity. Because Thatch had fallen for Hannah so quickly Izo was once more having doubts about himself. He was wondering if he was lacking something that Thatch had found in Hannah, and was afraid that eventually his mate would decide he didn’t actually want Izo after all, but want, as he’d put it to Marco “a real woman instead of a man dressed like one.”

Marco had been quick to reassure his effeminate brother. It was extremely obvious that Thatch adored the ground Izo walked on, and if the cross dresser didn’t like Hannah he would dump her in a heartbeat. He admitted to him that the only other time he’d seen Thatch like this was after he met Izo for the first time.

It had made Izo feel a lot better, but he was still nervous. For Thatch’s sake Marco had also cautioned the finicky man to keep an open mind and not let his worries keep him from judging the woman fairly. After all if he was too quick to judge he might throw away someone that he would really like too.

Izo agreed he would probably be quite jealous, and he knew he could be catty and mean when he got that way, thus he’d begged Marco to come too, to keep him in check and be a neutral third party. Being the good big brother that he was Marco had agreed, forgetting for a moment that Thatch had asked too for a different reason up until the man had reminded him, telling him to dress nice for the friend Hannah was bringing with her.

Feeling rather contrary Marco had decided to completely ignore this, and gone with his regular, signature attire. Thatch had not been happy with him, but Izo was amused, and since Izo was amused Thatch forgave him, knowing how nervous his mate was about meeting Hannah.

All those nerves appeared to be for nothing though. He’d been a bit worried about Izo’s stiffness at first, but once (name) had stepped in and gotten the conversation flowing it quickly became apparent why Thatch liked Hannah so much. The human woman was a nice balance between Thatch’s mellow and Izo’s uptight with a cheerful, sweet demeanor that was the perfect fit to deal with Thatch’s overflowing friendliness and Izo’s reserve.

That she and Izo seemed to share an interest in both fashion and guns, which Thatch obviously hadn’t known judging by the surprise on his face, was just the icing on the cake. Izo and Hannah once past the initial awkwardness of first meetings and Izo’s insecurities, which had been put to rest by Hannah’s obviously passionate feelings about how attractive he was, got along like a house on fire.

Thatch had practically been glowing as he watched the two of them interact, the most dopey, love-struck grin on his face that Marco had ever seen in his life. The man was practically radiating affection and joy at seeing the two of them get along so well so quickly after first meeting.

Marco wasn’t one to make snap judgments normally, but quite frankly he wouldn’t be at all surprised if Hannah ended up as the third part of their hoped for triad. He was in fact sure of it, barring sudden discovery of major personality flaw or disaster. He was happy for them. Thatch had been right, he was extraordinarily lucky to have found what seemed like the perfect person his very first night looking for her.

He’d have been more happy for them if they hadn’t decided to turn their newfound unity on him. Izo, obviously past his insecurities had apparently quickly sided with Thatch and Hannah when it came to setting him up with her friend.

Fortunately this time it seemed he could forgive them. It was just like Thatch had said (name) was interesting, very interesting. The way she interacted with Hannah it was obvious the two were extremely close, reading one another the way he could read Thatch, Izo and some of his other brothers that he was especially close to. 

The way she’d manipulated things to benefit her friend had also been interesting, carefully probing to find out Izo’s interests and doing her best to focus his questions and comments on Hannah, while simultaneously putting her friend in the best possible light she could. Frankly she was the best wingman Marco had ever seen, and he was a bit jealous of her ability.

When she stood to move to the other side of the booth he’d been reminded of the other two reasons he was interested. The first was his baser instincts acting up, as he realized that one, Izo and Hannah were correct, the skirt did wonderful things for her nicely curved rear and two, the top she was wearing, which seemed rather conservative from the front, had absolutely no back, leaving her creamy, unblemished skin open for viewing, and considering the almost bare skin of her neck, extremely appealing to both the vampire and the man in him.

He’d known from the first time he’d set eyes on her that she was an extremely attractive woman, this was just the first time he had it driven home to him that he was very physically attracted to her.

The second thing he was reminded of, was that she seemed very witty, quick with comebacks and not at all intimidated which quickly ticked off several of his must haves on the list for potential mate. He’d also casually mentioned being Whitebeard’s right hand earlier, and instead of making her jump into his arms, the way several before her had done, it had made her wary.

Well, more wary than she already had been. Thatch had told him Hannah had, had some unpleasant encounters with vampires before, while simultaneously asking him to keep an ear out, but the way (name) acted it was more like she was the one with poor previous experiences. It just made her even more interesting to him than before.

Another of his must haves was quickly checked off as the two began to actually talk with one another, seeing as they were essentially stuck for the next few hours, as she’d rightly pointed out to him. They’d started out simple and shallow, with him asking more about her weapons instructor job, and her asking about fire rescue.

This had eventually merged into their likes and dislikes as they talked about the people they worked with and interacted with, and eventually segued easily into funny stories about their friends, with Hannah, Izo and Thatch being their main topic of conversation.

Which led to her asking about some of his other Coven members and Whitebeard himself. She didn’t ask for things that would lead to weaknesses she could exploit, which would’ve set off all kinds of alarm bells for him, instead asking about day to day things anyone could find out, and more funny stories about how a Coven as big as the famed Whitebeard Coven could get along so well and have so many allies when their species was so well known for aggression.

Considering pops practically preached the value of family on a daily basis, in private, in public, on worldwide television, anywhere and everywhere, he was more than happy to talk to her about it without feeling like he was telling her any secrets. In turn she talked more about her relationship with Hannah. They commiserated over the responsibility of older siblings, but agreed strongly that family could always be more than blood dictated.

She’s also asked about his opinions on several vampire-human relations issues, wondering about it from a vampire’s point of view, offering her own, often times very strong, opinions in return. This had led to a very lively debate about humans’ places in the military and law enforcement.

She was all for equal representation and he was against. She believed that in allowing vampires to be the majority of the world’s military it also meant that in the end they controlled how wars were fought and in some cases with whom, which wasn’t fair. He argued that it was safer for vampires to fight in the military as it gave them an outlet for their aggression and they were much less likely to be killed by other vampires. If humans were mixed in they could become weak links.

She’d argued humans could be just as good as vampires, citing herself as an example, that while she may not be necessarily on Whitebeard’s level she could take the lower level vampires with ease, which was what the military was generally comprised of. Older vampires were less likely to want to fight or need to get their aggressions out and thus didn’t tend to enlist.

Marco had been very interested at that assertion and had invited her to spar some time, which she took with no hesitation whatsoever. She was either underestimating him, or extremely confident in her skills, either way he thought it would be interesting.

They also debated about humans in law enforcement, she’d argued that especially in police matters a human’s judgment and opinions should be considered because vampires and humans often had very different instincts and would thus read intentions differently.

Marco had pointed out that vampires had extra senses and could easily do things humans couldn’t like detect lies and the like. She had argued she didn’t want to exclude them entirely, just integrate better.

She’d also argued that by putting vampires into positions of power like that they essentially reinforced the vampire view that humans were inferior and couldn’t fight themselves. She worried that such a mindset would eventually lead to things like slavery and the like. She’d heard rumors that certain covens liked to kidnap humans and keep them as pets, and because lots of vampire law enforcement felt humans were inferior simply looked the other way.

He’d been forced to concede the point, and it was obvious both of them were really listening to the other, thinking about what they said and adjusting their views around them. It was the most enjoyable conversation he’d had on a pseudo date, pretty much ever. Especially because, despite both of them feeling passionately about their side, it never devolved into what was essentially “you’re wrong, no you’re wrong arguing”.

Eventually they’d been forced to stop though as her throat began to rasp as she spoke. She’d already had to clear it twice, and noticing her discomfort and not wanting their time to end he’d offered to get them both drinks. 

She’d smiled and gone for her wallet, which was nice. Usually when people found out he was Whitebeard’s right hand they wanted him to pay for everything. However this time he didn’t mind at all, and had waved her attempt to pay away. She’d pouted a bit, which he’d found surprisingly adorable, before deciding she would simply have to buy the next round.

It was a compromise he could more than live with, and he’d set off to the bar to grab what they needed, leaving a happily smiling (name) behind. The bartender had been a bit chatty and honestly a bit nosy as well about his companion. 

Marco had become instantly wary, feeling protective of his newfound friend, which the bartender had noticed. The woman, whose name was Koala, had quickly explained that (name) was a friend of a friend and they had been asked to watch out for her when she was at the Blood House, citing the incident last week, which he’d heard about from Thatch.

Feeling better he’d thanked her and ordered the drinks, only to be distracted when the woman started cursing, apparently seeing something over his shoulder. Turning he discovered the cause of her ire, and immediately forgot about the drinks in favor of returning to the booth, wondering if (name) was the kind of woman who simply attracted trouble.

…~oO*Oo~…

(Name) had been having a surprisingly good evening. Despite her worries about being left with Marco she’d been pleasantly surprised by him. It turned out he was well-spoken, thoughtful, intelligent, and very attractive. Several times she’d found herself more than a little bit distracted by the sound of his voice, the husky quality of it gave her goose bumps and made her wonder briefly what it would sound like in the bedroom.

She’d quickly squashed those thoughts though, and instead focused on their conversation, finding herself liking him more and more with every passing minute. Honestly she was a bit put out he wouldn’t let her pay for her own drink, but had been reassured when he’d said he’d let her pay next time, without any of the condescension she’d experienced previously from men who didn’t take her seriously.

She’d actually been enjoying watching him walk away when something had obstructed her view. Glancing up she found several people looming over her. The first, and the one in the center had a pointed beard and the strangest looking string-like mustache she’d ever seen, the one to his right had long hair and a painted face that reminded her of kabuki mask, the third was oddly ball-shaped as wide as he was tall with a strange tattoo of a zipper by the corner of his mouth.

“So you’re (name),” the one in the middle announced, leaning forward in what would likely have been an intimidating manner had she been someone else.

“That’s what they tell me,” she retorted wryly, “Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?”

It was fairly obvious that all three were vampires, she didn’t need the wide smirking smiles from the group, obviously trying to show off their fangs, which were fully extended. She was neither impressed nor intimidated.

“I’m Jabra, and these are my companions Fukuro and Kumadori,” he informed her gesturing to zipper guy then kabuki guy respectively, “of CP9.”

“That’s good for you,” she dismissed casually, “But I don’t particularly care, and you’re blocking the booth, so I’d appreciate it if you left.”

She moved to stand, actually managing to get to her feet before they crowded her back against the table. Her hand instinctively went to her weapon, fingering it through the fabric of her skirt.

“She’s really as impertinent as the boss said,” Fukuro remarked interestedly, “And here I thought he was making things up again chapapapapa.”

“The boss?” she asked curiously.

“The boss of CP9,” Fukuro told her frankly, “It seems you upset him, probably humiliated him, he doesn’t really like strong women.” 

“Oh right spamda or panda or whatever his name was, the purple haired weakling with the face brace who got his ass kicked by Sabo and pissed his pants,” she recalled with a smirk.

“No wonder he smelled so ripe upon his return,” Kumadori put in, “His poor mother would be ashamed, I should commit seppuku in order to help him regain his lost honor yoi-yoi!”

“You do that,” she told, eyeing him oddly and wondering if he was completely off his rocker, then trying to slip past, “now that you know your boss is a pathetic weakling I’ll just be on my way.”

“Not so fast,” the one called Jabra ordered grabbing hold of her own, “Boss’ orders we’re to teach you a lesson girl, it’s too bad, you’re pretty cute, but orders are orders.”

“I suggest you take your hands off me,” she informed him coldly, “Before you lose them.”

“You’re awfully confident for a lowly human,” Jabra told her with a wicked smile, “But don’t worry I’m not actually into playing with my prey, this will be quick for you, you won’t suffer too badly.”

“Hard not to be confident. When the boss is weak so are the underlings,” she taunted, “Hope you wore a diaper.”

He snarled and lunged, and she immediately had her dagger out and in her hand, twisting herself out of the way of his lunge and using his momentum to throw him back into the booth, the table splintering on impact. The other two lunged as well, but she slid underneath allowing them to collide painfully above her and stabbing upwards with the knife, using the fall to impale one of them in the shoulder.

Using the momentary weakness and shock of being stabbed she fought her way free of the pile via the judicious use of knees and elbows, and rolled free, landing in a crouch a bit away from the table, on the balls of her feet, ready to throw herself back in but it seemed she had been rendered unnecessary.

Marco had returned and with him a small group of male vampires led by a female with pretty strawberry blonde hair and a crimson newsboy cap. Her companion for the evening had Jabra by the throat, his feet actually dangling off the ground, and the males had restrained the other two CP9 members while the female approached her, an apologetic smile on her face.

“Hey! Sorry about that, looks like we were a bit late to the party,” she said with a grin, “You alright?”

“I’m good,” (name) replied casually rolling her shoulders as she checked her body for injuries.

“That was pretty impressive, especially for a human. I can see why Sabo’s so interested,” the other woman told her with a grin.

“You know Sabo?” (name) asked surprised.

“Yep! I’m Koala, one of the Revolutionary Coven, since it’s our week to work security at the Blood House he asked us to keep an eye out for any trouble since he knew you’d be here,” the woman explained, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“He really is the White Knight type isn’t he?” (name) asked fondly amused by her new friend.

Koala laughed brightly, “That’s him to a T! It’s funny how you’ve gotten him pegged so quickly. Anyway sorry we weren’t quicker.”

“No blood no foul,” (name) told her casually, “Though these fellas say they’re from CP9 same as Spanda from last week. I was under the impression he’d been taken care of, plus how do all these Government Coven members keep getting in here? I didn’t think you were allies.”

“That is a very good question,” Marco announced, reminding them of his presence, apparently he’d decided to knock his own captive unconscious and was in the process of handing him over to one of the Revolutionaries, “One that I’d like answers to myself.”

“I don’t actually know myself, but I’m starting to think we might just have a traitor in the Blood House. How else would Spandam and his goonies get in two weeks in a row?” Koala said grimly, “Honestly I know it’s not fun for you (name) but it’s probably a good thing they fixated on you. Now at least we know we’ve sprung a leak somewhere.”

“I don’t like that the government somehow thinks it’s okay to be attacking humans on our turf,” Marco pointed out unhappily.

“Me neither, I’ll alert Dragon and see what he thinks, they seem to be getting bolder and more aggressive lately and I don’t like it,” Koala said chewing on her lip.

“I’ll tell pops, tell Dragon to expect a call from us,” Marco warned her seriously.

“I will, sorry again for the disturbance (name) but I better get going, have a good night, and I’ll tell Sabo you said hello yeah?” Koala asked offering her hand with a smile.

“Sure, tell him I’m looking forward to seeing him next week,” she replied accepting Koala’s hand easily, “And it was nice to meet you Koala, even if the circumstances weren’t the greatest.”

“You too (name)! See you around!” she called before barking out orders to the male vampires and exiting the room taking the intruders with her.

“Are you really alright (name)?” Marco asked concernedly, reaching out and grasping her elbow gently.

She smiled up at him, touched by his genuine concern, “I’m okay, probably a few new bruises but nothing I can’t handle. Can’t say the same for our seats though.”

They both glanced at the ruined booth and she grimaced, “At least they weren’t soaked in urine this time.”

“True,” Marco agreed with an amused smile, “Though I think we might be better off relocating,”

“You’re right, and I’m really starting to think that booth is cursed,” she told him with a wry smile.  
He chuckled in amusement, a warm husky sound that sent delicious shivers down her spine, and gestured for her to lead the way. Only to pause as he grabbed her arm.

Glancing back she noted the pink tinge to his cheeks and moved back towards him concerned, “Is something wrong Marco?”

He didn’t reply for a minute, instead turning his attention to the sash at his waist and undoing it, fumbling with the knot for a second. The removal of the piece of fabric revealed his pants sat very low on his hips, and it exposed his toned lower abdomen and the enticing V of his hipbones, which had her mesmerized for a second.

It was her turn to blush as Marco cleared his throat and offered her the teal material. She instinctively accepted it, confused, which he obviously saw as he carefully explained, “I thought you might like to cover, your skirt is ripped.”

Glancing down she moved her leg and realized he was correct. Her poor pencil skirt was split all the way up to her waistband at her hip, exposing nearly all of her right leg and flashing just the barest hint of the red lace panties she was wearing underneath.

Hurriedly she shifted the fabric trying not to let embarrassment consume her, as she realized when she’d gone to walk away she’d essentially flashed him. She took a moment and arranged the tie so that it sat over her hip, the excess fabric covering the rip and glanced up at Marco who’d apparently recovered and was now smirking at her amused, and all she could think of to say was…

“I told Hannah not to put me in a damn skirt.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left Kudos/Bookmarked this fic!


	4. Chapter 4

(Name) sighed as she stretched her stiff muscles, ignoring the sweat was gelling on her skin after a long and intense work out. She was honestly feeling pretty good right about now. She always did, doing the training she did put her in a Zen like state that kept the problems from the outside world from overwhelming her, and after as she did her stretches gave her time to think through things with her mind feeling clear.

The rest of the night with Marco had still gone well, and she found herself very attracted to the handsome vampire she’d spent the evening with. They’d even exchanged phone numbers, deciding to keep in touch, especially with the Hannah, Izo, Thatch thing going on.

And it was very clearly a “thing” all three had exited the back rooms with such bright smiles, she couldn’t help but feel extremely guilty when they slid off upon seeing the destroyed booth. However between the two of them she and Marco had managed to assuage most of their worries.

They were still unhappy though, especially when Hannah pointed out that if CP9 were fixated on her the way Koala seemed to think they were it was likely that they would try to attack her outside the Blood House when no one was around to defend her, and what would she do then?

She’d immediately pointed out that she was more than capable of fighting for herself, had even been holding her own before the others stepped in, but Hannah hadn’t been reassured. As a last resort, in order to keep Hannah from demanding she move in with Marco or something equally ridiculous, she’d reminded her friend of her extra protection.

Hannah had immediately been relieved, after all you didn’t get much safer from vampires than she would be if she wore that protection. The only reason she hadn’t up until this point was because she’d never felt the need to. 

The vampires had been curious about this anti-vampire protection, but she’d refused to answer any questions stating that it was personal, and Hannah had loyally remained tight-lipped as well.

Still that didn’t stop Hannah from giving both Thatch and Izo a kiss goodbye, or from being on cloud nine all week long. She’d practically been walking on air, extra pep in her step and humming happily pretty much ever time she saw her. (Name) was happy her friend was happy, even if a tiny part of her was a bit jealous by how easily she seemed to be falling into a relationship with Thatch and Izo.

She actually did want something like that, even if it didn’t seem like it most times, either with a human or a vampire she wasn’t picky. However it was hard for her to open up like Hannah did. She never had been the trusting type.

However she had liked both Sabo and Marco and it felt a little strange to be seeing them one right after another. Honestly it felt a little like she was cheating on one of them, even if none of them were in any sort of committed relationship to one another.

She’d been as honest as she could with Marco, when he asked to see her again next week and told him she’d made plans a week ago to see someone else. He’d taken it with apparent good grace, though she couldn’t help the strange guilt she felt. However he’d told her he’d likely be around anyway because it was the Whitebeard’s week to play guard at the Blood House, and to stop by and say hi.

She’d agreed to that at least, though she hadn’t missed the interested looks both Thatch and Izo had thrown their fellow Coven member. Strangely enough she’d even allowed all three to hug her goodbye.

It was strange, outside of once when she was sixteen she’d never taken to a vampire so well before, and now she had four within the space of a week. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with that, especially when she found two of the four to be extremely attractive. Not that Izo and Thatch weren’t but they were very obviously taken by Hannah, and she would never, ever step on her friend’s toes like that.

Even if it wasn’t fair she’d compared the two a lot in her head. Outside their coloring they were pretty different. Sabo was more polite, reserved, easier to fluster, obviously younger, and sweet, with a very gentlemanly air about him. Marco on the other hand while polite, was exceedingly calm, older and more laid back, he gave off a far more roguish air than Sabo, though he had proved he was a gentleman, letting her keep the sash to keep herself covered, stating he had others.

She was honestly hoping the meeting later tonight would help her clear up a few things, because honestly she didn’t know Sabo very well, they hadn’t had too long to converse, but her gut instinct had been to like him, and she almost never ignored her gut.

It didn’t help that neither vampire had treated her as anything less than an equal. Both had been very firm on their stances of human-vampire equality even if Marco had a couple more old fashioned views. Never once had either of them spoken down to her or treated her as anything less than a capable young woman.

She’d really appreciated that from both of them, especially considering it almost never happened. A lot of vampires really looked down at what she did for work, thinking that training humans to defend themselves both from other humans and vampires was completely foolish. Even some humans thought that way and she’d gotten plenty over the years who’d come in to tell her just that.

In turn she’d been happy to tell them just where to shove it, but it had made her a bit bitter, and jaded when in came to interacting with vampires and Hannah’s experiences certainly hadn’t helped. Sabo and Marco, and even Thatch and Izo had been a breath of fresh air for her.

However, she wasn’t sure which vampire to chose, or if there was even a choice to be made. After all at this point she was sure she had the very beginnings of feelings for both of them, but she couldn’t be sure they felt the same in return. There was a good chance they just wanted a friend, which she would also be more than happy for.

Decided she relaxed out of her stretch and got to her feet. Right at this moment she didn’t have any information to make any sort of decision and so shouldn’t even try. She would wait until later, to see if she could figure out what both vampires wanted before making any sort of choice about what to do about her burgeoning feelings.

Feeling much more at peace she made her way out of the gym and towards her home to get ready. After all, no reason not to dress to impress to see if she couldn’t nudge things along one way or another, and this time she would be dressing herself, no skirts for her thank you!

…~oO*Oo~…

Ace leaned casually against the bar, sipping his drink and ignoring the glances of both human and vampire trying to catch his eye, wondering if he was looking to feed. He was actually feeling fairly smug at the moment having successfully diverted both Marco and Sabo away from the Blood House for at least an hour.

Hell, he’d even managed to convince Sabo that he would go in his place and assure the human he was meeting with, that he had no intention of standing her up and would in fact be coming as soon as he possibly could. That meant he’d get to see this (name) without any outside influence.

He’d been more than a little concerned, and if he was honest with himself, jealous about her occupying Sabo’s thoughts when he was supposed to be enjoying his time with his brothers. Sabo had been his first friend, and he was more than a little possessive of both him and Luffy.

He’d grown even more concerned when, upon returning from his trip he’d found Thatch crowing to Marco about being correct while Izo looked impossibly smug in the background. Apparently it hadn’t been Jozu, Haruta or even Vista that Thatch had managed to drag along but Marco.

Marco of the “impossibly high standards” as Haruta liked to say, had gone to meet this mysterious (name) and if the way he was tolerating Thatch’s loud and obnoxious gloating was any indication had liked her a lot. In fact Marco looked more amused by Thatch than anything else, rather than the annoyed he’d have suspected and even fond.

Though that might have been more about (name’s) friend Hannah than about (name) herself. Both Izo and Thatch got sappy looks on their faces when she was mentioned and could apparently happily rant about how wonderful she was for hours on end. Well Thatch could, Izo just got this impossibly soft look in his eyes whenever Thatch started rambling.

Ace was happy for them, he really was especially since Marco had clearly vouched for this Hannah person as well, but that didn’t stop his near burning curiosity about (name). 

When he’d finally caved to his curiosity about it and asked Marco directly it was clear to see that Marco was fond of her already, calling her a sassy, intelligent, mysterious little human. To his shock Marco had even admitted he had every intent of pursuing this (name) to see if things between them could go anywhere.

Out of loyalty for both his brothers he’d been forced to point out that Sabo was extremely interested as well, and would be meeting with her that coming weekend. He was once more surprised when Marco informed him he already knew, (name) had apparently already told him when he’d asked to meet her again. He’d then proceeded to inform Ace that just because Sabo was interested didn’t mean he’d back off, after all Sabo was from a different Coven, an allied one sure, but not one of theirs and so Marco felt no guilt about trying to steal (name) away from him.

Ace had left that conversation baffled, wondering who the hell this (name) was that she could leave such a positive impression on two of his more cynical brothers. Even Izo liked her, and it was hard to get Izo to like anyone. Which was why he’d set things up so that he could meet her himself.

Neither Thatch nor Izo were aware of his plan, or if they were they weren’t calling him out on it, opting to pretty much ignore him as they swept towards the pair of girls when they entered the room. The blond was pretty, sweet looking and smiling so brightly at Thatch and Izo that Ace felt his own lips twitch. It was clear even at this distance that she was as taken by them as they were by her.

With one last hug for her friend the blond allowed herself to be shooed away and into the arms of Thatch and Izo leaving his way clear to her friend. Ace took a moment to study her, and felt something clench low and tight in his belly. He could at least see why they were physically attracted to her, she was a beautiful woman.

Tonight it seemed she was going for a more dangerous vibe, not that he could blame her, since apparently she’d been attacked the last two times she’d been here. Her pants looked painted on, tight, but flexible, with dark grey high heeled boots that matched the heavy silver belt on her hips. On top she wore a strapped corseted top in a dark pink, that didn’t hide the fact that she had several knives strapped to her person.

Even the way she walked screamed predator, despite knowing for a fact she was human. If he didn’t know Sabo and Marco were seriously interested he might’ve tried for a taste. He wasn’t the committed sort, but feeding on someone like that could be very interesting.

Glancing around he noticed he wasn’t the only one looking, and quickly got to his feet. Both Sabo and Marco would have his head if something happened to her. Still he wasn’t going to rush, instead swaggering over easily meeting the eyes of the vampires who noticed him moving and offering a dangerous smirk, a clear hint to back the hell off. 

That they immediately did so wasn’t at all surprising, he wasn’t considered one of Whitebeard’s strongest Coven members for nothing after all. There weren’t many who could effectively challenge him about feeding on this human, not here anyway, and those that could probably wouldn’t either respecting him too much or not caring enough to bother.

He arrived at the booth she’d slid into and stood there waiting for her to glance up at him. She did so, her grey blue eyes sweeping up his torso, giving the exposed muscles there a thorough looking at before looking at his face, meeting his eyes with her stormy blue eyes.

“Not interested,” whatever he was expecting it certainly hadn’t been such a bored dismissal, completely and utterly disinterested, especially after the long look she’d given at his bare chest.

“That’s too bad, cuz I gotta say I’m pretty interested in you,” he told her recovering as quickly as he could from the surprise. 

“That is too bad for you, get lost,” she ordered flatly. It was a good thing he hadn’t come over here hoping to feed because her bored expression and clear dismissal could and likely had sent many a vampire scurrying away with his metaphorical tail between his legs and his ego shattered to bits. Good thing he was made of sterner stuff.

“Now that’s just rude,” he told her with an easy going grin that he knew ladies and men alike swooned over.

“What’s rude is trying to feed on someone who clearly isn’t interested,” she retorted, “I really am starting to think this booth is cursed, so much for third times the charm.”

“I’m not looking to start a fight sweet cheeks,” he told her sliding in across from her and ignoring the icy glare she was leveling on him as he took his seat.

“If you’re not looking to start a fight, then don’t call me sweet cheeks, sweet cheeks,” she retorted acerbically, pulling a knife from out of nowhere and beginning to twirl it expertly between her fingers.

Maybe he was stupid or just a masochist, but he was starting to like this woman, who was clearly completely un-intimidated by him, and also clearly threatening him to leave or else, “Relax (name) Sabo sent me.”

“Oh? Do tell?” she prompted suspiciously eyes narrowing at the use of both her name and Sabo’s.

“He’s a little tied up for the moment but will be around shortly,” he told her with a disarming grin, to which she was apparently completely and utterly immune.

“Alright message delivered,” she answered a flash of concern, that no other human would’ve seen, but that Ace’s vampire senses caught easily enough, crossing her face before disappearing behind a bored expression again.

“I-“ he began in a further attempt to begin interrogating the woman who was growing more and more interesting by the second, but was interrupted by a loud crashing sound.

He was on his feet in a second turning towards the sound, with (name) less than a second behind daggers appearing in both hands. A part of him noted that as extremely impressive reaction time before glancing around trying to find the disturbance, and when he did he let loose a low groan of annoyance.

“Friend of yours?” she asked, the first trace of amusement that he’d seen on her all night lighting her face, as she surveyed the dark haired vampire that had come crashing into the Blood House with absolutely no sense of decorum whatsoever.

“Our baby brother,” he informed her tiredly, knowing there was no point in hiding it anymore, not when Luffy was here.”

“Our?” she questioned pointedly.

“Sabo’s and mine,” he admitted offering a sheepish smile, “Nice to meet you I guess, I’m Ace.”

“ACE!” as if in confirmation his baby brother shouted his name across the room, spotting him and immediately making his way over a bright smile stretched across his face, waving his arms excitedly, “Did you find Sabo’s interesting human?”

“I think that would be me,” she told him, surprising Ace by stepping forward and offering her hand to his baby brother an amused and easy smile on her face, “I’m (Name).”

“I’m Luffy,” he told her pumping her hand up and down eagerly, the bright smile never leaving his face, “I’ve always wanted to meet an interesting human.”

Ace tensed, preparing for her to take that badly, but instead she laughed, a rough, boisterous, completely unabashed belly laugh that was nothing like the soft tinkling bells or throaty seductive tones he might’ve expected from her by just looking at her. He found that he liked the sound of it, it was sincere and free, and he wasn’t surprised at all to hear Luffy laughing right along, eyes practically sparkling.

“I can already tell you’re a very interesting vampire,” she told him with a sincere smile, “won’t you join me?”

“Sure!” Luffy told her easily climbing into the booth after her when she slid in, and staring expectantly at Ace until he reclaimed his seat opposite the two.

Interestingly she’d turned her entire body to face Luffy, sitting sideways in the booth, her legs crossed in front of her, a posture Luffy had instantly mimicked practically bouncing in his excitement. Her face was much less guarded now, and it confused him more than a bit.

After all he knew Luffy had a special kind of charisma about him, his thrall when he chose to use it was nearly impossibly strong, especially for someone his age. However he wasn’t using it on her, not even a bit, not that he used it often or at all really, but she was so completely different in his presence, far more relaxed even though Ace himself hadn’t left.

“So you’re Sabo’s brothers,” she told Luffy with an interested smile, “I don’t know if he mentioned you, we didn’t get to chat long last time, but it’s certainly nice to meet you.”

“Did you really stab zipper dude?” Luffy asked eagerly, “Only I heard from Sabo who heard from Koala that you did! He said she said you kicked his butt, him and the others from CP9!”

“I didn’t actually get a chance to see how the fight would’ve gone, but I did stab the fat green haired one yes,” she admitted amused by his excitement, “Marco, Koala and the others interfered before it got much further though.”

“Aww I bet you coulda kicked their butts! The jerks! CP9 are a bunch of weaklings, except maybe Pidgeon guy and square Ussop, if you ever see them, don’t fight, run,” Luffy warned her surprisingly serious.

“I’ve got pretty good instincts about who I can take and who I can’t,” she admitted to Luffy easily, “I knew I could take Jabra, but I wasn’t so sure about three on one odds. I might’ve been able to do it, but in that case I knew security was bound to show up soon to back me up, plus Marco didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d leave a girl on her own like that, he struck me as the chivalrous sort, though not quite on the level of Sabo.”

“What’s chiv-val-roast?” Luffy asked curiously, “Can I eat it?”

“Ah chivalrous means to act like a gentleman, be polite and courteous, or treat others, especially women with good manners and courtesy,” she explained patiently.

“So Sabo,” Luffy summed up with a nod, “And Sanji and Cabbage.”

“I don’t know who Sanji and Cabbage are, but yes, Sabo fits that description to a T,” she told him with a smile.

“So you’re not going to fight pigeon guy or square Ussop right?” Luffy pressed moving back to the previous conversation, “Because then you’d die, and I would be sad because you’re an interesting human and I want you to be my friend.”

“I promise I won’t fight whoever pigeon guy and square Ussop are unless I have no other choice,” she promised solemnly holding out her pinky to Luffy who accepted with an eager smile.

“Good!” Luffy told her firmly.

“I don’t get it,” Ace announced finally speaking up from where he’d been watching this entire conversation take place, more than a little dazed by how rapidly the two had taken to one another, especially considering how unwelcoming she’d been to him.

“Don’t get what?” a new voice asked joining the conversation.

“Sabo!” Luffy exclaimed eagerly practically jumping out of the booth to hug his brother eagerly.

“Hey Lu,” Sabo greeted returning his brother’s hug and not allowing himself to be knocked over backwards by virtue of long practice.

“I missed you!” Luffy cheered, “And I met your interesting human, she’s so nice! I like her.”

“Oy! How come Sabo gets a special greeting? That mean you didn’t miss me?” Ace asked annoyed, “And you can’t decide to like her that quick you haven’t even talked to her for more than ten minutes!”

“Better give Ace a hug too Lu, or he’ll pout again since it’s obvious I’m the favorite,” Sabo announced smirking at Ace who growled at him annoyed, then grunted as he got an armful of Luffy who hugged him eagerly.

“Alright, alright get off already,” he hissed annoyed, his face burning in embarrassment as he shoved their younger brother off him and out of the booth, while giving Sabo the most evil glare he could muster, hoping to convey that he’d have his revenge.

Muffled laughter turned all their attention to the woman sitting in the booth, who had her hands pressed to her mouth to stifle the sound, her grey blue eyes practically dancing with amusement.

“What’s so funny?!” Ace snapped annoyed and embarrassed.

“Nothing, nothing,” she assured once she had herself under control again, though the quirk tucked into the corner of her lips and her still dancing eyes suggested otherwise, “You’re just too cute you know?”

“I’m not cute!” Ace hissed immediately knowing that he was probably flushing all the way down his chest and wishing for once in his life that he’d worn a shirt.

“You are,” she insisted, completely unafraid of his wrath even as he growled at her warningly, “All three of you.”

“Ace is so red!” Luffy exclaimed, “Are you okay Ace?”

“I’m fine!” he snapped furiously, wondering when the hell his interrogation of Sabo’s interesting human had turned to humiliate Ace day.

“If you say so,” Luffy told him with a shrug getting up from the floor and taking his spot back by (name) leaving Sabo to slide in next to Ace looking extremely smug.

“Wipe that look off your face asshole,” Ace hissed in an annoyed undertone, one too soft for normal human senses to detect, “This is all your fault.”

“Serves you right,” Sabo hissed back, “Hack wants to see you my ass, you just wanted to ambush (name).”

“So Luffy,” (name) said learning forward to look at his brother with interest, “Does Ace turn that color a lot?”

“That’s none of your business!” Ace snapped mortified at the same time Luffy said, “Oh yeah all the time.”

“There was this one time, when we were little, that we were walking back to Dadan’s Country and Ace had to stop and take a whiz and then a huge boar thing came out of the woods and it chased him away and he had to run around without his pants on to try and get away, and when he finally did he couldn’t find his pants again so he had to walk the rest of the way home without them,” Luffy expanded eagerly ignoring the mortified horror of Ace who was trying to become one with the booth his hands pressed to his burning face.

“Then this other time, there was this vampire girl Ace really liked, and we were at a Mexican restaurant and we saw the girl, and Ace wouldn’t say anything to her, which is stupid because if you really like someone you should talk to them, so he finally went to talk to her he opened his mouth and I guess the burritos didn’t agree with him because he farted really, really loud, and the girl ran away,” Luffy continued.

“And there was this one time… Ace stop kicking me you meanie!” Luffy protested pulling his legs out of Ace’s reach and turning back towards name who looked like she was about to die trying to hold in her laughter.

He’d never been so embarrassed in his life, and Sabo was sniggering along beside him not even trying to stop him. He was so going to get even with him, and he even had the perfect way to do it.

“Luffy why don’t you tell (name) about the times Sabo turned red instead huh? I’m sure she’d like to hear about that much more than me,” Ace told him a wicked smirk on his face as Sabo’s abrupt laughter cut off beside him.

“Okay!” Luffy agreed cheerfully.

“Right after Sabo became my brother,” Luffy began happily.

“Wait, wait Lu, I’m sure she doesn’t want to hear about that,” Sabo interrupted anxiously as his face began to tinge pink.

“Sure I do,” she told him before Ace had a chance to say anything, “it’s only fair.”

“But-,” Sabo tried again to no success as Ace jammed an elbow hard into his ribs, eliciting a pained grunt, “Hush up Sabo I want to hear this, go on Luffy.”

“Right, so right after Sabo became my brother we were playing outside on the playground of our school and all of a sudden Sabo starts dancing real funny and making these really funny squealing sounds and he’s shouting about something in his pants, and asking for help, so Ace helped him and pulled his pants down in front of everybody cuz apparently there was a mouse in his pants and it ran up his pants leg and couldn’t get out again, that poor mouse,” Luffy told her shaking his head solemnly.

“Also on Valentines Day when Sabo was eight there was this little girl in his class and she really, really liked him, but he didn’t like her, but he was too nice to hit her and make her go away, and she spent all day asking for a kiss from her Valentine, and Sabo kept saying no so at recess she tackled him and refused to let him up until he gave her a kiss, the recess monitor had to save him,” Luffy informed her as Sabo sank to low in his seat only his top hat was visible over the table.

“Those are wonderful stories Luffy,” she praised happily, “Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome!” Luffy chirped, “Do you have any stories (name)?”

“Stories, let me think,” she paused tapping her chin thoughtfully and Ace wondered dubiously if she would actually tell them anything.

“I’ve got one!” she exclaimed excitedly, “Did Sabo tell you about Hannah?”

“She’s your friend right?” Luffy asked interestedly.

“My best friend, more like my sister than anything else,” she told him with a warm, soft smile that lit her face in a way that actually made her seem sweet as opposed to extremely dangerous.

“We’ve known each other for a long, long time now, since we were in preschool,” she explained, “Anyway when we were in middle school Hannah was really, really shy. She’s always been very pretty and so the boys in class liked to tease her to try to get her attention.”

“It wasn’t her fault, but the teacher thought it was, and called her out and scolded her in front of the whole class. I spent the rest of the day trying to coax her out of hiding, and convince her to come back. However the whole time I was planning my revenge, because that teacher made Hannah cry, I was going to make him cry too,” she smiled darkly in a way that Ace probably shouldn’t find extremely attractive but did.

“I started small, and was a bit unoriginal I’ll admit. I put tacks on his chair, frogs in his desk drawers, chalk in his erasers that kind of thing,” she admitted with a shrug, “But he was pretty immune, he got angry at us, but I was pretty careful not to get caught, so all he could do was give the whole class warnings.”

“I upped my game and started putting nasty substances in buckets above the door, an air horn under his seat, covered the entire class room in sticky notes and even put rainbow paint on the windshield wiper of his car, so that when he turned them on it left rainbow streaks,” she admitted with pout.

“Still he hung tight and I had to up my game,” she told them a grim smile, “So I recruited some of the boys who should’ve been the ones to get yelled at, not Hannah. One of them distracted the teacher and got him out of the classroom, while the rest of us worked our magic. By now no one in the class liked him so no one was about to tell on us.”

“When he came back he walked face first into seran wrap, stumbled, put his foot into a bucket of the nastiest sludge we could find, and when he tried to yank it away triggered the vat of honey which dumped all over him, followed by the glitter,” she told them all with an extremely self satisfied look on her face.

“He didn’t cry but he started screaming and cussing at us so badly that another teacher came in, and tried to escort him out, but he wouldn’t go and eventually the principle came and he was fired right there in front of us,” she finished proudly, “He may never have cried but I got my revenge either way and the next teacher we got was much nicer and no rude little boys ever dared to pick on my Hannah ever again.”

“I think I’m in love,” a new voice piped in interrupting the wide-eyed staring from the three brothers at the table, “Marry me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it took so long for this update to come out! Life kind of got in the way and between work and running around like a headless chicken trying to get myself a new car I didn't have the time or energy to write. To make it up to you I'm thinking if I have time next week I'll post some previews on other things I'm working on! We'll just have to see!


	5. Chapter 5

The speaker was a shorter vampire, with reddish brown hair bright blue eyes and a mischievous smile on his face. He was wearing a lime green tunic with a large white ruff at his neck and poofy shoulders, with white tights beneath it. He looked young, but with vampires looks could be deceiving and she guessed his age was probably somewhere between Luffy’s and Ace and Sabo’s.

He was also on the stronger end of the scale when it came to vampires, though not as strong Luffy, Ace or Sabo and certainly not as strong as Marco who was standing next to him, giving him an extremely annoyed look as the unfamiliar vampire beamed at her.

“How much of that did you hear?” she asked curiously.

“Enough to have interesting blackmail on both Ace and Sabo and to know you are my perfect woman,” he told her taking her hand from the table and bowing over it, pressing a light kiss to her knuckles, “Say the word and I’m yours.”

She laughed, apparently surprising Marco who snapped out of glaring at his friend to look at her in confusion.

“You must be Haruta,” she told the vampire with a smile, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“The beautiful lady has heard of me then?” he asked brightly, straightening up and beaming at her, his eyes twinkling with mischief. 

“Only from Marco,” she told him, offering the familiar blond a reassuring smile.

“But I’m afraid what I’ve heard from him assures me a that marriage between us would never work out,” she told him with faux sincerity, “The world just isn’t ready for that kind of unholy alliance.”

Haruta let go of her hand and cackled, “I like you! I like you a lot. I approve.”

That said he clasped Marco firmly on the shoulder and bounded off, leaving the rest of the table staring after him in bemusement.

“What do you think the odds he’ll just leave this alone are?” Marco drawled in exasperation glancing over at Ace, who was starting to look amused himself.

“Zero percent,” Ace told him with a smug look on his face, “I’d bet that even now he’s hunting down all our brothers and telling them to watch out for (name), maybe even prompting them to come over and meet her if they have the chance.”

“You think he’ll get Pops involved?” Marco asked casually.

“Nah, probably not for a while yet, give it time, but probably Jozu, Vista, and the other Division Commanders,” Ace mused with a smirk.

She groaned dropping her head on to the table and, attracting the attention of the vampires around her, interrupting the conversation.

“(Name)?” Sabo asked in concern, “Are you alright?”

“I’m not sure whether to be flattered or appalled that I’ve somehow caught the interest of the Whitebeard Coven,” she mumbled into her arms, knowing with their vampire hearing they’d still be able to hear her.

“Well you were bound to attract someone’s attention eventually,” Ace pointed out pragmatically, “You’ve probably heard this a lot lately but you’re an interesting human, you don’t react to us the same way other humans do. You were bound to be noticed by someone.”

“So basically what you’re saying is, better your Coven than some of the other less human friendly ones out there?” she asked amused.

“Something like that,” Ace told her with a shrug.

“What makes me so different anyway?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“You aren’t afraid,” Luffy told her seriously, “Not even a little bit, not even when Ace was trying to intimidate you on purpose.”

She chose to ignore the annoyed looks both Marco and Sabo cast at the sheepish looking brunette and prompted, “But lots of humans aren’t afraid of vampires, otherwise it would be a lot harder for you to find food.”

“Well that’s true to some extent, but also not in a way,” Sabo told her seriously, “Yes humans let us feed on them without fear, but when we start fighting next to them, or get angry around them, they tend to get pretty cowed. You on the other hand, not only stood your ground but fought back, that’s really rare in a human.”

“That and you come to Blood Houses with no intention of letting anyone feed on you,” Marco pointed out carefully, “I actually meant to ask you about that last weekend, but forgot in the light of CP9 attacking you again.”

“You mean about not letting vampires feed on me regularly?” she clarified.

“Well, yeah. I mean I know some humans don’t either because they’re afraid or because they don’t like us, but you don’t seem to fall into either of those two categories,” Marco told her with a shrug, sliding himself into the booth next to Sabo so they could converse without her having look up at him.

“It’s not that I haven’t thought about having a vampire feed on me before, if only to say I’d done it,” she explained with a frown choosing her words carefully, “It just always seemed like something too intimate to do with a complete stranger.”

“Intimate?” Sabo asked confused.

“Yeah, it’s like, like sex I guess,” she told him after a moment’s thought, ignoring the choked sputtering from both Ace and Sabo, “Not something you should do with just anyone.”

When she saw them looking at her blankly she elaborated, “I know peoples values when it come to sex vary widely, so here’s my personal view. I don’t care about sex before marriage, or mating or whatever, but I do think it should be done with someone you trust. It’s really easy to hurt someone both physically and emotionally with sex.”

“You think feeding is the same way?” Marco asked curiously.

“I know it is,” she told him firmly, “Physically should be obvious, everyone grows up with whispered stories about vampires who lost control while feeding and killed the human who was helping them. Everyone knows somebody that knows somebody you know?”

The vampires at the table, including Luffy all nodded in acknowledgment, that it happened wasn’t covered up at all. People feeling that in this case honesty was the best policy, though it had gotten better in recent years.

“As for emotionally, well, Hannah has given me more than enough proof over the years that it’s very easy for vampires to use and abuse the humans they feed on,” she informed them unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

“And before you say it, I know there are considerate vampires out there, I feel like I’m sitting with four of them, and I know Hannah is in the back with two more, but using the sex metaphor again there are wonderful generous lovers out there, just the same as there are rapists,” she explained calmly.

“I guess I just want to know and trust any vampire I let feed on me,” she tried, hoping she was explaining it clearly, “I mean if say I let one of you feed one me I would literally be placing my life in your hands, giving you something I can’t get back. Sure it would replenish with time, but it wouldn’t be the same. It’s kind of like letting someone take your virginity over and over again.”

“And then there is the real as opposed to metaphorical intimacy of it,” she barreled on, determined to get the entire explanation out, “I mean from what Hannah tells me, and what I’ve heard from others, most vampires like to feed from here or here.”

She tapped the pulse point on her neck and then the top of her left breast respectively, “Now maybe it makes me a prude, but I prefer at least two dates before I let someone neck with me or go to second base.”

“So basically you want someone to date you before feeding on you?” Ace asked confused.

“Not necessarily,” she assured him ignoring the bright red blush on Sabo’s face and concentrating solely on his brother, “I would like to be friends though, or at least be mutually respectful.”

“However, most vampires I’ve met don’t seem to want to put the effort in, swaggering over and just demanding my services, like I’m some kind of whore, only I don’t even get paid for my ‘services’ and am generally just supposed to grateful I was chosen at all, and don’t get me started on vampires who use their thrall to coerce people into feeding them, date rape drugs are illegal for a reason,” she told him looking directly into his eyes.

She could see he got the message, as to why she’d shot him down so thoroughly earlier when he’d approached her by the way he shifted guiltily in the booth, and smiled to let him know she forgave him. After all it was pretty obvious now he was only trying to see what kind of person she was for his brother’s sake, though which brother she wasn’t exactly sure of.

“So you just haven’t found any vampires you trust enough to let them feed on you?” Marco asked curiously.

“Actually I have,” she told the table, enjoying their surprised reactions.

“When I was sixteen I was more than ready to have a vampire feed on me, back then in high school it was the thing to do, kind of like going to a concert or sneaking drinks,” she told them with a shrug.

“So I went to a Blood House with a bunch of my friends, including Hannah. They all went off with vampires pretty quickly, but I was being picky. I hadn’t liked any of the vampires who’d approached me, they all gave me weird vibes, and I’ve always had pretty good instincts. I was pretty close to giving it up as a bad job for the night, and went to sit at the bar when he caught my eye.”

“It’s always hard to tell with vampires, but I would guess he was about your age, probably a bit older,” she told them gesturing toward Marco who looked surprised.

“I was curious. I’d never met an older vampire before, and so I approached him. One thing led to another, and he agreed to feed on me, and we went into the backrooms, but I don’t know I guess my nerves got to me,” she explained with a wry smile.

“Surprisingly he was really cool about it, he helped calm me down again and assured me we wouldn’t do anything I didn’t want, he was chivalrous like that, and I knew in that moment that I’d chosen well, especially for the first time,” she told them fondly.

“I was determined to try again, but he told me he wouldn’t not tonight, but that I should take some time to think about it, and then come back again if I was sure. I was pretty disappointed but in the end I agreed. My friends were my ride though and I knew they wouldn’t be leaving for a while, so I was stuck, but he stayed with me.”

“We talked for hours,” she reminisced amused, “It was the first opportunity I’d ever had to actually just sit and have a conversation with a vampire. I asked a lot of questions, some of which were probably really rude in hindsight, but he was mostly just amused by me I think. Well both amused and bemused, he’s a pretty scary looking guy, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t get humans approaching him with offers to feed often, and certainly not young teenagers.” 

“He told me all sorts of interesting tidbits about the history that he lived. How he was originally from Spain and how he’d immigrated over here, all sorts of things. I was shocked when my friends finally turned up ready to drag me away. I had, had such a good time I hadn’t even noticed the time passing,” she told them with a laugh.

“That night as I left I was absolutely sure I would come back to see him and let him feed on me, and we agreed to meet on Friday, a week from then. I took the week to really think it over and by Friday was more than ready.”

“But then when we got to school on Friday everything changed. One of our friends, one of the girls who’d gone with me to the Blood House the previous week, had been killed. The vampire she’d met that night had apparently coerced her with thrall into meeting him again at another Blood House, one whose safety precautions and standards were a lot lower. He killed her. Drained her completely dry. She was only sixteen and we were devastated.”

“I almost lost my nerve, I was flooded with doubts and insecurities, because what if he did that to me? What if he’d used his thrall to coerce me?” she remembered drumming her fingertips lightly against the tabletop, “But then I remembered how absolutely polite he’d been, and how he’d actually refused to feed on me, despite the fact that I’d offered. I figured the least he deserved was to not be stood up.”

“I went, and I think he knew the minute he laid eyes on me that I wouldn’t be okay with feeding him that night. I’m sure I looked pretty awful, me and my classmates had been crying pretty much all day. He coaxed me to the back, and managed to get the story out of me. Needless to say he was pretty disgusted. He didn’t approve of vampires who preyed on humans like that.”

“He comforted me, despite being extremely uncomfortable with my emotional display and in an effort to make me feel more safe told me all about the things I could do to protect myself from vampires. General things like how to tell a vampire’s age, to how to notice and escape thrall, the little things I could do to keep from becoming a victim. He was pretty damn wonderful, and at the end of the night I felt so much better, and asked to meet with him again next week, determined to learn more, to learn everything I could.”

“Again he agreed, probably out of curiosity, but for the next week and for several weeks after that even he met up with me and began teaching me how to defend myself physically with my fists and with these,” she flashed the knives at them and grinned, “He even let me experience his thrall, so I could begin recognizing the signs, and inure myself to it. Eventually I was able to fight it off completely.”

“By that third week I trusted him completely and was more than ready for him to feed on me. I offered as soon as I saw him, but he looked me straight in the eye and told me ‘(name), you are far too interesting to be food,’” she told them doing her best to mimic his low smooth tones and light accent.

“After that he actually invited me to his temporary home, he didn’t have a Coven of his own really, preferring to go it alone, though he did say he was peripherally involved with a couple of the major ones. He really liked to roam though, and while he didn’t stay too much longer, he did teach me all he could in that time, and when he left he promised he’d come back to check in on my progress and see if I’d improved.”

“He also gave me this,” she fished the medallion out of her shirt and held it aloft for the vampires at the table so they could see it, “To protect me just in case I found a vampire I couldn’t fight off myself.”

“(Name) do you know what that is?” Sabo asked hesitantly, the first one to recover from gaping at the pendant.

“He said it was his crest and that it would frighten off a good majority of the vampires that would see me as nothing more than a snack,” she replied with a shrug, tucking it back into her shirt, where it rested safely between her breasts.

“That is as good as saying he’s adopted you into his Coven,” Marco told her seriously, “Or at the very least considers you a precious ally. Most of the Whitebeard Coven gets theirs tattooed, but our allies get those as proof of allegiance, to give one to a human is practically unheard of.”

“Whoever that vampire was sure likes you an awful lot (name),” Luffy told her with a bright smile

“Indeed I do,” a smooth baritone interrupted before anyone else had a chance to speak up, everyone’s heads snapping to the side to look at the newcomer who’d managed to approach the table without any of them, including the experienced vampires, noticing.

“Mihawk!” she blurted surprised, then beamed, “You’re here!”

…~oO*Oo~…

“Come on Hawky! Cheer up it’s your birthday you’re supposed to be having fun!” the redhaired vampire coaxed his friend, not at all intimidated by the glare that had more than once sent lesser vampires running for the hills.

“If by fun you mean drinking myself stupid and falling asleep under the table, forcing my nonexistent second in command to drag me back to my stronghold over his shoulder than I will pass thanks ever so,” Dracule Mihawk informed his so-called friend, “And don’t call me Hawky.”

“You’re such a downer Hawky,” the red head whined, and Mihawk wondered, not for the first time, how the hell someone like Shanks, who whined worse than a two year old had become one of the strongest and most respected Coven Leaders in the world.

“Boss you know not everyone celebrates the way you do, leave Mihawk alone before he decides to see if he can take your other arm,” Benn Beckman sighed, lighting a cigarette and putting it to his lips, reminding Mihawk that he was why. He’d never met another vampire so capable of putting up with Shanks’ antics and coaxing his unrelenting energy into less destructive paths.

“I don’t know Benn a spar could be fun, we haven’t sparred in ages Hawky, why haven’t we sparred?” Shanks asked with a pout.

“I don’t fight unarmed men,” Mihawk informed him dryly.

Shanks gaped at him, then tugged on Benn’s arm gesturing frantically, “Did you hear that Benn! Did you hear? Hawky actually made a pun!”

“I heard,” Benn informed him with a tired sigh, “I was standing right here.”

“Stop calling me Hawky, red-hair,” Mihawk warned again, though he knew it was fairly fruitless by now.

“Only when you join my Coven,” Shanks informed him with a pout.

“I’m thinking about it,” Mihawk informed him boredly.

“You’ve been thinking about it for over a hundred years now!” Shanks informed him aggrieved, “Can’t you make up your mind?”

“I could always say no,” Mihawk informed him straight faced, knowing it would drive Shanks nuts.

“You wouldn’t!” Shanks protested immediately, “We’re friends Hawky! You don’t say no to friends!”

Mihawk was going to retort, but his attention was caught by a flash of bright pink at the corner of his eye. Glancing around he caught sight of a familiar face tucked into a booth with no less than four vampires around her. Four vampires that he recognized.

Two of them were Whitebeard’s brats, and the other blond was the right hand of the Revolutionary Coven leader Dragon. The final one was actually Shanks’ own protégé, and the perfect excuse to go over and see what they were doing, and check in with his own little pupil. 

“Oy Hawky pay attention to me!” Shanks whined unhappily.

“Isn’t that your favorite brat?” he asked the red head gesturing in their direction.

He was immediately distracted, just as he’d know he would be, the man loved that brat to distraction despite not having sired him, himself, though it seemed his right hand was not so easily diverted and was watching him with a speculative look on his face that Mihawk wasn’t sure he cared for. Luckily Shanks quickly solved that matter by redirecting all the attention back on to himself.

“It’s Luffy!” the redhead cheered happily, “Look Benn it’s Luffy!”

“I see that,” Benn informed him rolling his eyes at his drunk boss, “Are you going to go see him?”

“I should, shouldn’t I?” Shanks asked, as he rose from his seat eagerly, “It’s been awhile and I’d like to ask him how his Coven building is coming along.”

Wordlessly Hawkeye rose with them, and followed, not that Shanks noticed, all his attention focused on his favorite young vampire, as he hurried across the room, not even noticing when his full drink sloshed over some of the other vampire patrons, who were understandably upset until they saw who had done it.

Mihawk just rolled his eyes, both at Shanks carelessness and the other vampires’ cowardice. Still it wasn’t his problem, what was his problem was the fact that his (name) was showing the vampires at the table the medallion he’d given her. Were they giving her trouble? If so important vampires or not, Shanks little protégé or not, he’d be teaching them a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.

He barely noticed as he sped up, bypassing a surprised Shanks and arriving at the table first, just in time to hear Shanks protégé say, “whoever that vampire was sure likes you an awful lot (name)!”

“Indeed I do,” he informed them, deciding that was as good a cue as any to butt into the conversation and determine how much he needed to threaten these youngsters to ensure the safety of his pupil.

“Mihawk!” she blurted in surprise, a wide beaming smile spreading unhindered across her face, filled with affection and adoration, “You’re here!”

The next sound that was heard was the clashing of steel on steel as his young protégé launched herself up out of the booth and lunged at him with her knives, forcing him to quick draw to defend himself.

…~oO*Oo~…

Sabo gaped in shock as (name) not only recognized Dracule Mihawk but lunged out of the table to attack him. She was attacking one of the most powerful vampires in existence! The strongest master swordsman in the world! What the hell was she thinking?

“Should we be stopping her?” Ace asked completely nonplussed as he glanced around the table for help.

“We have to help her!” Luffy said immediately springing to his feet, “That guy is way too strong for her! He took out Zoro!”

“That won’t be necessary,” a new voice informed them, and Sabo looked up in surprise.

“Shanks!” Luffy exclaimed excitedly, before quickly turning serious, “Shanks you have to help my new friend! She’s gonna get hurt!”

“She won’t, look,” Shanks told them gesturing towards the fight, that was a whirl of flashing steel almost too fast for the normal human eye to follow, but slow enough they could easily see what was happening, “Watch the way they’re interacting.”

“He’s pulling his blows, and he isn’t attacking her very often, just defending” Sabo noted slowly, a surprised look on his face.

“She’s smiling,” Marco informed them after peering at them closely for a minute, gesturing for them to look, and see. 

She was smiling, just like he said, though grinning like a mad woman was probably a more apt description. The wide beaming smile on her lips, and the savage glint in her eyes as she danced an extremely deadly dance with the Greatest Swordsman to ever live, was something Sabo knew would be engraved in his memory forever. It was kind of beautiful, he mused, in the sheer ferocity of it, and the grace with which both combatants moved.

“He’s testing her,” Ace said, speaking aloud the conclusion they’d all come to, his voice holding the same surprised awe they were all feeling.

“Your little human friend is good,” Shanks remarked watching the fight with a practiced eye, “I’ve never seen a human quite that fast or graceful before.”

“I suppose it’s to be expected of a human trained by Dracule Mihawk ~yoi,” Marco noted aloud.

“He trained her?” Benn asked surprised.

“If what he was implying is true, he’s been working with her since she was sixteen. It’s what we were talking about before you came over,” Sabo told him feeling a bit odd at the revelation, because no wonder she thought she was capable of defending herself, if this was how she could fight the whole time most vampires wouldn’t stand a chance one on one.

“Huh!” Shanks remarked appearing to look even more closely at the battling duo, “That is some of his footwork in her movements, and the way she holds that knife in her left hand? That’s definitely the same grip Mihawk uses when he toys with young vampires looking to defeat the world’s greatest swordsman.”

“And here I was thinking the guy didn’t like anyone, when it turns out he’s been hiding a little protégé all this time,” Shanks pouted.

“Not just a protégé,” Marco warned firmly, “She wears his crest.”

“Really?” Benn asked shocked out of his normal laidback attitude.

“Really, she showed it to us,” Luffy told him completely serious.

“You think Hawky’s looking to mate with her?” Shanks asked interested, then jerked back quickly.

A knife flew through the air and embedded itself point down in the table where Shanks’ hand had been, shifting everyone’s attention back to the fight, which appeared to have ended. (Name) was standing with Mihawk’s sword pointed at her neck, hands in the air and a slight pout on her lips, completely unarmed.

“That was well done, you’ve improved,” Mihawk told her with approval.

“I still couldn’t nick you though,” she told him with a good-natured smile.

“Yes well that’s a long ways away still I think,” he informed her, sheathing his sword.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight. I would’ve brought your birthday present,” (name) told him stepping forward and wrapping her arms around the stoic vampire, much to the shock of the watching vampires, which included pretty much every vampire in the Blood House by now.

They were even more shocked when the apathetic swordsman, who was known for his cold, uncaring attitude, wrapped his arms around her in return, tucking the small human woman under his chin and leveling a fierce glare around the room that sent most of the vampires scurrying back to what they were doing.

“What did you get me Chiquita?” he asked interestedly.

“A couple of bottles of nice wines I thought you might like, a 1945 bottle of Marques de Riscal, a nice merlot, and a sweet, dry red I thought was interesting,” she told him promptly.

“I’ll swing by tomorrow and get them, maybe do a little training, and get caught up,” he told her, his voice was cool and formal but anyone looking could see the clear affection on his face as he leg go of her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, “Are you still in the same place?”

“I am,” she confirmed with a smile, “Hannah’s moved across the hall now though.”

“Ah yes Hannah. She wasn’t so bad I suppose, where is your friend anyway? I wouldn’t have thought she’d have left you alone?” he questioned, dropping an arm around her waist and guiding her over to the table where the rest of them still sat, shell-shocked.

“She’s taken a shine to a couple of Whitebeard’s sons,” (name) told him with a shrug, “And I like them too, they’re good for her.”

“And you? Found anyone worthy of your blood?” Mihawk asked casting a dark look at Sabo, both his brothers and Marco, making him gulp nervously.

“None yet, outside of you anyway,” she promised.

“I see,” his eyes narrowed on them again, “Their loss then.”

“You going to introduce us Hawky?” Shanks asked casually, and Sabo had to admire his gumption, as one of the few men in the world who could go toe to toe with Hawkeye and live to tell the tale he had a lot of respect for Red Haired Shanks, and that was outside of the respect he had for him, for saving Luffy’s life when he was young.

“If I must,” the swordsman said with a sigh, “(name) this annoying menace is Red Haired Shanks, and the dark haired one is his right hand Benn Beckman, menace, Beckman, this is my protectorate (name).

“A pleasure to meet you (name),” Shanks told her with a charming smile and an ease that Sabo wasn’t afraid to admit he was a bit envious of.

“And you,” (name) returned not at all intimidated by the leader of one of the most powerful Covens in the world, simply raising an eyebrow at him when he bent to kiss her knuckles instead of shaking her hand.

“Oh boy, you can tell you’re Hawky’s you do the same eyebrow thing,” Shanks bemoaned, though he looked amused for the most part.

“She is mine,” Mihawk acknowledged giving Shanks a sharp look, “Which means keep your grubby paws off Red Hair.”

“What kind of relationship do you two have anyway?” Shanks asked curiously, and Sabo took a moment to be grateful the much more powerful vampire leader was asking the blunt questions that he himself was dying to know the answers to. 

He knew better than to think he could question the older vampire so bluntly. In fact the only one he knew might even think about it was Luffy, luckily for all involved it seemed Ace had already predicted that and slid under the table at some point and next to Luffy, so he could be there to tackle him when he inevitably went to insert his foot into his mouth.

“Mihawk’s the closest thing I have to a father, and I would ask that you would respect that relationship and quit implying what we both know you’re implying,” (name) informed him flatly.

Sabo whistled silently, apparently Luffy wasn’t the only one who was more than happy to mouth off to people a hell of a lot more powerful than himself. He’d known she was brave before, but mouthing off to CP9 and even to Ace was way different than mouthing off to Red Haired Shanks.

The redhead vampire stared at the human girl Sabo was admiring more and more by the second, as she returned his stare evenly, and nearly jumped out of his skin when Shanks let off a raucous laugh, clasping a welcoming hand on (name’s) shoulder.

“I like you kid, you’ve got balls of steel,” Shanks informed her with a wide grin.

“I will have you know I’m a lady and have no balls whatsoever,” she intoned dryly, “Thus I would much prefer the term ova if you please.”

Shanks gaped for a minute then let out another roaring laugh, which set the tone for the rest of the night, and Sabo took a moment to marvel at how easily (name) won over every vampire she came into contact with, and to fret once more at the thought of his competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry for the wait! I got a little distracted by some other stories! Stories that I will be posting shortly after updating all of these, so if you've got the time and inclination please check them out! :)  
> Also I've made myself a tumblr account under the same name EvenescentTranquility, mostly so I can tumblr stalk some of my favorite authors, but if you've got questions, comments, critiques, suggestions, or just want to be friends, feel free to hit me up over there. If people are interested enough I might even post previews of things over there :).


	6. Chapter 6

Sabo eagerly shoved the reports he’d been working on away as his alarm sounded to let him know it was time to get ready to go meet (name). His stomach had been a mess of nerves all day waiting for this and he hadn’t been able to concentrate much on his work.

Koala had been accosted several times for him to bounce his plan off of. Luckily she was a good friend and had simply rolled her eyes each time and assured him his plan was perfect and if things didn’t go well, then at least it wouldn’t be because he hadn’t made an effort.

As he made his way to his rooms he remembered the nervous conversation he’d had with (Name) before leaving the Blood House on Saturday. 

It had been getting really late, and he had come to the realization that while he’d enjoyed the night, having learned a lot more about her thanks to her interactions with Mihawk, Shanks and his brothers, he hadn’t had the chance to really talk to her one on one at all.

Sure they’d talked but not the way he would’ve liked to, not the way Koala had told him she and Marco were talking when he was on his trip with his brothers. He realized the more time he spent watching her, listening to her talk and interacting with her the more he wanted that with her, he wanted to know her.

Which was why he’d made himself approach her as she was about to leave with her friend Hannah, who’d rejoined them a while back with Izo and Thatch. He’d managed to catch her relatively alone and close to the door, which was good because if his brothers (namely Ace) had seen the bumbling that followed they never would’ve let him live it down.

Normally he was very good with his words. He may have thrown off most of the influence his former Noble Coven had, had on him, but he’d always taken pride on the educated way he spoke and refused to give it up just because it was something they had approved of. That said when he’d approached (name) his normal eloquence had completely failed him.

…~oO*Oo~…

“(Name)? Could I maybe have a moment of your time?” he asked hesitantly, trying to ignore the knowing look Hannah was giving him over her friend’s shoulder.

“Sure Sabo, what can I do for you?” she asked shooting an annoyed look at her friend, and pinching her gently in the side making Hannah squeak and jump in apparent retaliation for the none-too-subtle elbowing her friend was doing.

“I-I was wondering if I could ask for some of your time, to meet up again?” he asked stuttering a bit, and trying to ignore the nervous anxiety in his stomach and quell his tendency to word vomit when he got anxious. It was an unfortunate habit, that the more nervous he got, the more verbose he got, and it tended to get really bad around pretty girls he liked. He hadn’t been able to talk to Koala properly for at least a week when he first started working with her. Luckily during that week she’d proved herself to be much more friend material than potential love interest.

“I’ll be here next Saturday again? Weren’t you there when Haruta showed up to invite me?” She asked a puzzled frown on her face, “You’re more than welcome to come too, even if it isn’t your Coven I’m supposed to be meeting. If I’m honest I’d even prefer that you did. It would be nice to have another friendly face around.”

He did remember. Ace’s Coven member had swung by with a smug looking grin on his face and insisted that she come again next weekend in repayment to him for keeping all his brothers away tonight. More than a few of them were apparently hankering to meet her. 

From the look on her face she probably would’ve said no, despite that sort of opportunity being something that most humans would kill for , except Hannah had shown up then. Haruta had casually informed the blond human that she was expected to be there too, as a meet and greet for the one Thatch and Izo were courting, that it had pretty much already been the plan to have everyone meet Hannah next week anyway and that most of them would probably split their time between the two girls but Hannah was the main interest.

Sabo had seen the nervous look Hannah had shot (name) and the triumph on Haruta’s face soon after when (name) had reluctantly agreed to come in the face of her friend’s need. In looks alone Haruta was probably the least intimidating of Whitebeard’s Coven, pulling of the innocent if mischievous schoolboy well. However Sabo had it on good authority that he was the main information specialist of that Coven and was very good at getting people to do what he wanted them to.

He really hadn’t appreciated him using those talents on (name) and neither had Mihawk or Shanks, both of whom had thrown Haruta warning looks when (name) was looking elsewhere. Haruta had shrunken a bit and lost the smug look in the face of the protectiveness of two extremely strong vampires, but to his credit he hadn’t backed down, instead choosing to bow out, promising to see both (name) and Hannah next week.

“I’m not sure I’d be welcome, but I’ll come nevertheless if you’d like me to be there,” Sabo told her firmly.

“Always such a gentleman,” (name) teased managing to bring a bright flush to his face yet again, though her smile and words were sincere as she said, “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” he’d assured her with a smile, “It’s my pleasure really.”

“Alright, then I’ll see you next week,” she confirmed with a smile, about to turn away and leave for the night.

“W-wait,” he’d managed after a few seconds trying to recover from his pleased embarrassment as he realized he hadn’t actually asked what he’d come after her for. She’d stopped and turned back to him surprised, and the words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“I was actually hoping to see you before that. Not that it won’t be wonderful to see you again next weekend, but I was thinking perhaps we could meet up somewhere if you’d like? We could perhaps talk and get to know one another better,” he was panicking a bit now and the words just wouldn’t seem to stop.

“I mean I’d enjoy some time where it could be just the two of us without my brothers interfering, not that I don’t adore my brothers. It would just be pleasant to perhaps have you to myself for a while…” He probably would have kept going, unable to stop himself, but she interfered, saving him from further embarrassment.

“Sabo, are you asking me on a date?” she asked carefully.

“Yes,” he told her relieved that she’d understood despite his babbling on, “Yes I am, that is if you’d like?”

“Why?” she asked bluntly, then grunted in surprise as Hannah elbowed her in the ribs, “What?”

“You don’t ask why when someone asks you on a date,” Hannah hissed at her obviously unhappy.

“I just want to know what exactly he’s expecting from me,” (name) returned with a frown, “What exactly he wants.”

“I like you,” Sabo interrupted firmly, he’d known she had trust issues, he just hadn’t realized how bad they were, “I think you’re interesting, funny, strong and an anomaly for a human and I find you very attractive and I’d like to see if a relationship between the two of us outside of friendship is feasible, if that’s agreeable to you.”

“Oh,” she said surprised then repeated it, “Oh!”

“Don’t just say oh, say yes,” Hannah ordered rolling her eyes in exasperation.

“Yes,” (name) repeated, then more firmly, “Yes, I’d like that.”

“Wonderful,” Sabo breathed in relief, “I was thinking maybe Wednesday? I could pick you up? Or you could meet me, either way.

“I’ll meet you,” she affirmed, “And Wednesday works for me.”

Here,” she told him offering her cell phone up to him after fishing it out of her very tight pants, that he was adamantly doing his best to not admire too closely, “Go ahead and put your number in and I’ll text you mine and we’ll get the details set up.”

He fumbled for a second with the phone but managed to get his number into her contacts, double and triple checking it was right before handing it back to her with a hopeful smile, “So I’ll see you Wednesday?”

“Yeah,” she confirmed with a slow smile, “See you soon Sabo.”

After one last wave a beaming Hannah pulled her out by her arm, letting out a squeal of excitement for her friend before they were even out of sight. Sabo watched them go until he couldn’t see them anymore, noting dazedly that the pants were just as tight across the back as he’d expected. 

Once they were gone though he shook himself, and then grinned as he began to head back to the booth where everyone else was still hanging out, because she had said yes. She’d actually said yes!

“What’s got you all sappy looking?” Ace asked suspiciously as he slid back in beside him, reaching for his drink in an attempt to mask the smile he couldn’t seem to drop.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Sabo waved him off. Ace gave him a skeptical look but appeared ready to drop it. Unfortunately Mihawk had other ideas.

“I saw that you pursued (name),” Mihawk drawled slowly, his unnerving eyes boring into Sabo’s, “And I’ve been watching you make moon eyes at her all night, so tell me little boy what you intentions are with my protectorate.”

“Firstly and with all due respect sir, (name) doesn’t belong to anyone but herself,” Sabo informed him his voice cold, but polite, “As for my intentions, since it appears you’re looking out for her best interests I’ll answer you. I intend to court her to see if we’re both interested in one another.”

“And what is it you’re hoping to get out of your courtship?” Mihawk asked calmly, swirling the glass of red wine he’d obtained sometime during the night, round and round in his long fingers, “A relationship? Sex? Blood?”

“As I just told her a relationship, hopefully a romantic one,” Sabo replied equally calm. Strangely enough he’d always been very good at keeping a cool head during confrontations, and had been told by Koala he always looked very “cool” during them. Unfortunately the minute they were over he tended to turn back into a dork, especially if there was a pretty girl involved, which was why he hadn’t had any girlfriends at all. Luckily Mihawk wasn’t a pretty girl, not even close.

Ace used to tease him about it until Sabo had flatly pointed out that unlike Ace he was interested in a lasting relationship, not just a quick lay, which was why it was so hard for him to casually approach women, so he could get to know them. Ace had acknowledged the point with a shrug, apparently not at all interested in anything permanent with anyone. At least nothing in the way of a mate anyway.

“As for sex or blood or course I’m interested. I’m a young male vampire, it would be stranger for me to not be interested, however I’m not going to push her for anything she doesn’t want to give. I’m not interested in pressuring her into anything, and besides I think she’d have a thing or two to say if I tried, and they’d probably be said with those knives of hers,” Sabo told him with a wry smile.

Shanks snorted in amusement, having been watching the conversation with interest, “He’s got you there Hawky, your little protégé is a fierce little human.”

“Don’t call me Hawky,” Mihawk snapped annoyed, “And yes, I have taught her to deal with any who cross her, and those who she isn’t yet ready for I will deal with for her. Still I have to ask little Revolutionary, do you intend to mate and turn her?”

“I think it’s too early to say,” Sabo replied immediately, then sighed and decided to give a little, “But I wouldn’t be pursuing her if I wasn’t looking for something serious and long term. I don’t do casual relationships, and if, somewhere down the line, we fall in love and decide we want to commit to each other permanently then yes I will turn her.”

Mihawk stared at him for a long moment, and Sabo forced himself to hold his gaze, until the older vampire nodded slowly, “Yes, I suppose that’s all you could conceivably promise me at this point, very well. Then what about you Turkey boy?”

It took a moment for the rest of the table besides Shanks, who immediately burst into hysterical laughter, to understand who Mihawk was talking to. Judging by the annoyed frown on his Marco didn’t appreciate the nickname.

“It’s a phoenix, Hawkeye,” Marco informed him flatly, referring to the tattoo on his back that had earned him the epithet “the Phoenix”, “And what do you mean what about me?”

“Don’t be coy,” Mihawk ordered flatly, “Don’t think I would hesitate to kill you if I thought for even a second you had ill intentions towards my protectorate. I don’t give a damn who your father is Phoenix I would still remove your head from your neck.”

Sabo could see all three of Whitebeard’s other ‘sons’ including Ace bristling at the threat to Marco, but Hawkeye was unmoved, and he had to admire the man’s confidence. He either believed he could take all four of them, or simply didn’t care if he died, either way it was impressive.

“Alright Hawkeye I’ll play,” Marco replied casually, leaning his elbow on the table and propping his face in his hand, apparently not at all phased by the death threat, “Yeah I like your girl, and no I’m not about to back down just because Ace’s brother asked her out first.”

“I am looking for a permanent partner, a mate of my own, but you already knew that,” Marco continued lightly, “And I think maybe (name) fits the bill for what I’m looking for. However I think we both need more time to get to know one another first, after all she might be what I’m looking for, but who’s to say if I’m what she wants?”

“That’s a good point,” Shanks pointed out with a laugh, “You’re kind of a stuffy, boring old pigeon. I think (name) needs more fun in her life, say Hawky…?”

“No,” Mihawk retorted sternly, interrupting Shanks mid sentence.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say!” Shanks pouted unhappily.

“You already have a mate,” Mihawk informed him flatly, “And I don’t want any suggestions from you either, you’d do something ridiculous like suggest one of your Coven.”

“I do love my mate,” Shanks nodded seriously, “And I wasn’t going to suggest anyone, but now that you mention it… Benn make a note we should see who’s available.”

“Shanks, we’re not going to play matchmaker for Mihawk’s kid,” Benn informed him with a weary sigh, “That is unless you want him playing matchmaker for Luffy?”

“No!” Shanks, Ace and Sabo all shouted simultaneously.

“Matchmaker?” Luffy asked interestedly, “Isn’t that, that game Bellemere and Makino like to play? Actually I think Nami and Robin play too… Why can’t I play? I like games.”

“Not this game,” Ace informed him firmly, “This game is a mystery game that can only be played by certain people and Lu you are not one of those people, so no game for you.”

“But I want to!” Luffy whined unhappily.

“Luffy, matchmaking isn’t a fun game, it’s boring and involves lots of talking and plotting, and making people do things they don’t want to,” Sabo coaxed.

“Oh,” Luffy told him heaving a sigh, “Alright Sabo if you say so.”

Sabo nodded firmly and traded relieved looks with Ace, disaster averted. Luffy as a matchmaker would be either spectacular or horrendous, either way it was a very bad idea.

“Okay, it’s settled, no matchmaker for Luffy, and that isn’t even what I was going to say originally anyway,” Shanks informed them tartly, shooting annoyed looks at Benn and Mihawk.

“And what then were you going to say?” Mihawk prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“I was just going to ask if you’d mind if I offered (name) my protection. I mean she kind of already has it, since she has yours, the ally of my ally or whatever, but I figured I’d make it official,” Shanks offered with a shrug.

“I have no say in what (name) does or who she allies with. If you want to offer feel free,” Mihawk told him with a shrug, apparently uncaring about the implications.

Sabo however knew exactly what it meant. (Name) had suddenly become the only human to have the protection of not one solitary albeit powerful vampire, but a whole Coven of extremely powerful vampires. It would make her simultaneously very safe, and very endangered, especially if the Government or World Noble Covens ever found out.

His thoughts were interrupted by Mihawk, as he turned to Ace and stared at him, apparently waiting for something. Ace had never been patient and Sabo could see he was on edge and not appreciating being stared at.

“What?!” Ace snapped finally breaking the silence.

“Your intentions?” Mihawk prompted the ‘you idiot’ wasn’t said but heard loud and clear.

“Intentions?” Ace asked completely baffled, his confusion stalling his anger, “Intentions for what?”

“For (name)?” Mihawk drawled, and Sabo could see Ace wasn’t appreciating his tone, but was still too surprised at the direction this conversation was going for his temper to flare too badly.

“I don’t have any intentions for (name)!” Ace informed him immediately, but Sabo could hear just the tiniest bit of defensiveness in his brother’s voice, which prompted a frown. Was Ace now interested in her too?

Mihawk apparently heard it as well and raised a single brow at Ace staring at him in blatant disbelief. He continued to stare just waiting, and Sabo had to admit it was the right tactic to take because his brother wasn’t patient at all, and didn’t handle awkward silence well.

“I don’t! Marco and Sabo are both interested, if they weren’t I might’ve tried to coax her into my bed or to let me feed on her, preferably both, but since they are I have no intentions whatsoever, alright?” Ace snapped annoyed, a slight flush on his cheeks the pink livid against his freckles.

“I suppose that will do for now,” Mihawk informed him, “Stay away from her.”

Ace looked like he was going to snap, but Sabo felt someone, likely Izo from the look on the cross dresser’s face, kick Ace hard in the shin and heard Ace’s small hiss of pain. Luckily his brother had gotten good at taking hints over the years and after a glance at Izo’s subtly shaking head, subsided, which was definitely a good thing. Whitebeard’s second division commander going up against Mihawk would be bad enough, but now with Shanks’ interest in everything as well? That could spell disaster if Ace stepped too far out of line.

“And what about you?” Mihawk asked, turning to Luffy who’d been surprisingly quiet throughout the discussion, though if Sabo had to guess, he would say it was because of the now suspiciously empty plates that he’d thought had held the snacks they’d bought over the course of the night.

“Huh?” Luffy asked when he realized everyone was now looking at him, making a valiant effort to hide the food in his mouth, that confirmed Sabo’s suspicions.

“Do you want to make (name) your mate anchor?” Shanks asked suddenly very interested.

“(Name) is my friend,” Luffy informed them all after swallowing all the food in his mouth, “She’s nice and I like her. She’s an interesting human. If she was a vampire I’d ask her to join my Coven! Hey, maybe I should ask anyway?”

“I think you’d better discuss that with your Coven first Lu,” Ace urged concerned, “Asking a human to actually join your Coven is a lot different from just offering her protection.”

“Okay,” Luffy said with a shrug, “She might say no anyway since she would want to join Sabo’s Coven when they become mates.”

Sabo glanced at his brother, startled at the thought, but Luffy was right of course, if things went well, the way he was hoping they would, then she’d be joining him in his Coven. It was a lot to think about and Luffy was putting the cart before the horse again, but Sabo appreciated his little brother’s faith in him.

Luckily it seemed Mihawk was more than satisfied with Luffy’s answer, and the group had slowly begun to split off. Shanks and Benn went first, with Shanks nearly passing out at the table, and Mihawk went with them trading barbs with the drunk Coven leader.

Luffy was the next to leave after receiving a phone call from his Coven member Nami demanding to know where the hell he was. Apparently he’d forgotten to tell them where he was going tonight, and he’d walked away happily babbling to Nami about the interesting human friend he’d made.

That left just Sabo and the Whitebeard pirates, including his brother Ace who was looking back and forth between him and Marco warily. If he was honest with himself Sabo had kind of been waiting for this conversation all night.

“I know it isn’t a competition,” he began slowly trying to find the right words, “because that would imply (name) is some kind of trophy, which is incredibly disrespectful to her as a person, but I do realize in the end only one of us can end up with her.”

“I guess what I’m saying, is until she explicitly asks me to, I’m not going to back away from her, if she agrees to go on dates with you too fine, but until either she or I decide we’re not interested in each other romantically I won’t stop seeing her,” Sabo told his fellow blond firmly, locking eyes with him.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you ~yoi,” Marco told him casually, meeting his gave evenly with his own heavy lidded eyes, “A gentlemen’s agreement then?”

Sabo nodded slowly then asked, “Terms?”

“I think it will be pretty obvious who she chooses in the end. She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to play games between two men,” Marco commented after a moment’s thought.

“So once she chooses, the other backs off, is that the agreement?” Sabo clarified.

Marco nodded, and the two of them shook on it. Sabo had left the club with a flurry of plans in his head for the date on Wednesday and a feeling of determination. He would need to put his best foot forward if he wanted to impress (name).

…~oO*Oo~…

(Name) glanced around curious and a little concerned. Sabo had told her to meet him here on a street corner, so they could walk to wherever they were going. Apparently it was supposed to be a surprise. She was admittedly more than a little anxious about this date.

She’d dated before of course, at twenty-four she’d had a handful of single dates, three longer term relationships, and a single one night stand that she’d greatly regretted afterwards, but those had all been with human men. Not once had she dated a vampire before, not for lack of interest on her part or on the vampire’s but because it had become apparent very quickly that they were only interested in blood or sex. Sabo would be her first attempt at a real date with a vampire, and despite her pessimism regarding such matters she was hoping it would go well. 

“(Name!) a familiar voice called and she turned to see Sabo walking toward her. He was dressed a bit differently tonight, apparently having decided to leave the top hat at home, which was why she hadn’t spotted him right away. He was wearing a navy button-down shirt, and pressed black pants, with black dress shoes. 

As he approached she noted the shirt fit him very well, emphasizing his broad shoulders and narrow waist, and without the top hot, it became obvious his golden blonde hair had just the littlest bit of wave to it, falling attractively around his face, even as he strove to push it out of his eyes as he came to a stop in front of her. Coupled with the slightly shy smile it was a very attractive look.

“You look beautiful,” he told her, and while most compliments these days didn’t phase her, the sincerity in this one made her face feel hot, “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“Just a couple of minutes,” she promised with a smile, “So are you going to tell me what we’re doing that required me to dress like this?”

This, was a silvery blue dress, with a handkerchief hemline and lace overlay that kept the sweetheart neckline modest. It was flowey, loose and fairly comfortable, and she’d paired it with a cute white kitten heel she’d found in the back of her closet. When he’d texted her the details he’d told her to wear something she could move in that was ‘casual high school spring dance,’ which was oddly specific but doable.

“I suppose it would be only fair to warn you, just in case, and if you don’t want to that’s okay, I just thought perhaps you’d enjoy learning to dance with me?” he offered nervously, a hopeful look on his face.

“Dancing?” she repeated surprise, “I assume you don’t mean the kind of dancing you’d do at a nightclub?”

“No! No of course not, it’s a dance lesson for waltzing I had thought it might be enjoyable for the both of us,” he told her hastily, “If not I can certainly cancel, we can do something else I had simply hoped…”

“Sabo,” she interrupted firmly, though a part of her was grateful he seemed just as nervous as she was, “Learning to dance sounds like fun. It’s a good idea.”

He let out a breath of relief and smiled at her, a wide beaming smile, and she was taken aback by how handsome he looked in that moment, for a second he literally took her breath away, and then he was offering her his arm again the same way he had the first night she met him. She accepted it, much more readily than she had that night, and allowed him to lead her to their destination.

When Sabo had said dance lesson, she had assumed it meant a class of people, all learning together, and had resigned herself to a bit of embarrassment as they stumbled through learning together. It still sounded like fun, and it was something she’d never tried before, but that meant she was probably going to be bad at it, at least at first.

What she actually got was a much more private lesson, with just her, Sabo, one other couple and the instructing couple. It was fairly intimate, and each pair received one on one instruction from the teachers after they gave the group a demonstration.

She’d half expected Sabo to already know how to dance, his gentlemanly air leading her to believe it would be something he’d know. He’d admitted to taking a few lessons, but insisted that was a lifetime ago. He was probably correct that it hadn’t done him any good. The two of them definitely stepped on each other’s toes several times, but both of them were able to laugh it off.

She found herself relaxing and enjoying the lesson, and the feel of his hand in hers, and the warmth of his hand on her waist. Luckily it turned out because both of them were fighters and more inclined to grace they picked it up fairly quickly. The slightly competitive part of her noted they were much better than the other couple, which she took some small pleasure in. Judging from the slight smirk on Sabo’s face he too was amused as another small yelp of pain, at being trodden on echoed through the room from the direction of the other couple.

When the instructors announced their time was up she found herself disappointed it was ending. She’d enjoyed herself a lot, and she made sure to mention it to Sabo after they both thanked the instructors. He’d beamed at her, looking very pleased with himself.

He’d then escorted her to a small Italian place nearby. It was a little bit of a hole in the wall type of place, but the food was amazing. Apparently Sabo and his brothers were more than a bit obsessed with food, and liked to find all kinds of different places to visit, this was one of Sabo’s favorites, and it showed as the waiter and hostess had smiled and greeted him by name.

Over dinner they discussed the dancing lesson, and snickered quietly about the other couple. Their talk had then devolved into the kinds of music they liked. She was more a top twenty and rock kind of girl, while he apparently had a secret love for sappy love songs though he’d made her promise to never mention that in front of Ace.

The conversation flowed between them surprisingly easily, and she was reluctant to stop. They lingered over dessert, but it became obvious that the owners were going to be closing up soon. Sabo left them an extremely large tip as thanks for letting them stay so long.

They walked out into the street and she commented again about how much she’d enjoyed the dancing, as he began to lead her back to the corner lot where she’d parked her car. He’d told her they could definitely do something like that again if she’d like. She’d agreed quickly, but had insisted that next time she got to plan their date. 

Sabo had looked surprised for a second, but then beamed at her and asked if that meant he’d get another one. She’d agreed immediately. She’d had a couple of really nice dates over the years, but this one was definitely among the best. They made plans to meet up Sunday again.

They arrived at her car, and she was half wondering if maybe he’d kiss her, she certainly wouldn’t have minded. She’d been half thinking about it all night, and as he tenderly tucked a stray strand of curly hair, that had come loose from the style she’d had it in, behind her ear, allowing his hand to linger she’d thought for sure he’d do it.

Her heart had been racing in her chest, and she’d been waiting for it, ready, even eager to accept. She could see the desire for it in his face but in the end he’d simply caressed her cheek with his thumb and carefully released her before wishing her goodnight. 

Confused she’d climbed into her car, started the engine and driven away wondering what the hell had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Sorry this took so long, it's been a really busy couple of weeks. I wanted to take a second and thank everyone who left comments/Kudos/bookmarked/subscribed to this fic you guys are awesome! I also want to thank everyone who followed me over on Tumblr under the username EvenescentTranquility. I've had a couple of really great conversations with people over there and really appreciate the feedback they've given as well.


	7. Chapter 7

“I mean, I thought everything was going well!” she complained not for the first time as she watched Hannah reload her clip, after emptying the first into the target on the far wall.

“He was right there! I mean literally inches away and I thought for sure…” she trailed off running a frustrated hand through her hair, accidentally snagging her fingers in a tangle and wincing in frustration and pain as she began working at the knot.

“I mean, why didn’t he? I wanted him to, I thought he wanted it too. Was I wrong do you think?” she asked trying to coax her hair into some semblance of order.

“I don’t think you were wrong,” Hannah told her patiently, turning away from the firing lane, “I mean it’s pretty obvious he likes you a lot, poor guy was practically a mess of nerves trying to ask you out that first time, not that you helped anything. I still can’t believe you asked him why he wanted to date you!”

“Like I said I wanted to know what his intentions were, and to see his reaction to the question,” she informed her friend with a frown, so maybe it had been a little unfair to test the vampire like that right off the bat, but honestly he’d passed with flying colors and he didn’t seem to mind, so she didn’t see what the problem was, “And anyway if he likes me as much as you say, why didn’t he kiss me?”

“Maybe he was nervous,” Hannah offered with a shrug, “I mean you’re kind of intimidating you know?”

“He’s a vampire, one who’s at least fifty years old, and strong to boot,” she informed her friend dryly, “What does he have to be intimidated by?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe the fact that you’re a kickass, beautiful woman?” Hannah asked sarcastically, “Maybe because you’re smart, and sarcastic and he likes you and wants you to like him too?”

“You’re all those things too, and I don’t see you having any problems with Thatch or Izo kissing you,” (name) pointed out mulishly. She knew for a fact that the three of them were well beyond simple kissing at this point. Hannah hadn’t stopped talking about her two vampire lovers, and if she was honest (name) was a bit jealous of her.

It wasn’t that she wanted Thatch and Izo, not even close, the two of them weren’t her type. However she did want a relationship like Hannah’s where everything seemed to have fallen into place easily, the three fit together like pieces of a puzzle and already seemed to be falling into synch with on another. However she was far too happy for her friend to dwell on jealous thoughts for long. Hannah deserved to have her happiness and a strong relationship after all she’d been through with jackass vampires in the past.

“That’s not a fair comparison,” Hannah pointed out reasonably, “We’re very different people after all, and so are my Vampires and Sabo.”

“Do you think maybe it was my fault then? Was I too guarded?” (name) asked hesitantly. She knew not being able to trust was a big flaw of hers, was aware it sometimes got in her way when it came to making friends or opening up to potential lovers. In fact of her three longer relationships it had been the end of two of them. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if she’d somehow scared away or off put Sabo with her wariness.

“No!” Hannah told her immediately, “No of course not! I know you can be a little distrusting, but I think he knew that going in. Besides, you said things went well, you’re even going on another date this weekend right? And you said he seemed excited about it, which means he likes you a lot okay?”

“And, if you’re really worried about kissing him, then maybe you should make the first move,” Hannah suggested with a sly smirk, “It’s your turn to plan the date after all, so go after him this time! You’re a strong confident woman and you don’t need him to lead!”

(Name) giggled with her friend, and then offered her a smile, “Maybe you’re right.”

“Of course I am!” Hannah interjected snootily, making (name) roll her eyes in fond exasperation.

“So next time I’ll make a move, and Sabo won’t know what hit him,” she told her friend with a smirk.

“Good, now if you’re done brooding, help me replace my target would you? We’ve got at least another hour before I need to start getting ready for another date with my fellas and I want to get some more practice in, so I can kick Izo’s butt later,” Hannah told her with a competitive grin.

(Name) snorted in amusement, but did as she was bid. Glad as ever to have a best friend like Hannah in her life.

…~oO*Oo~…

“I’m an idiot,” Sabo informed his brother morosely, cradling his phone to his ear, as he stuck a microwave dinner in to begin heating.

“I was already aware of that,” Ace snarked, “What makes you say it this time though.”

“I took (name) on that date…” Sabo trailed off trying to figure out how to word things without sounding like a cowardly idiot.

“Did it not go well then?” his brother asked, his tone surprisingly neutral. Sabo knew it had to be hard for him to be stuck between him and Marco, and was grateful he was doing such a good job of staying out of it. He honestly didn’t know who Ace would choose in this situation, and as much as the thought stung he was also very grateful.

When they were young he hadn’t thought Ace would ever be able to open up to anyone, not even him. Luckily Luffy had come barging in with his special brand of charisma otherwise Sabo wasn’t sure what would’ve happened to his older, hotheaded brother. He was glad Ace had more people supporting him now, even if it led to moments like this where he had a conflict of interest.

“No it went great!” Sabo told him, feeling more than a bit smug about that part. It was honestly the best date he’d ever gone on, not that he had a whole lot of them to compare to, but still.

“So why are you an idiot then?” Ace prompted confused.

“Well, I mean it went great right up to the end,” Sabo admitted sheepishly.

“Go for the big kiss and got rejected huh?” Ace asked surprisingly sympathetic.

“More like chickened out,” Sabo mumbled unhappily, unfortunately with vampire hearing it was more than loud enough for his brother to hear it.

“Seriously?” Ace asked with a guffaw, “You wimped out on her?”

“It’s not funny,” Sabo bit out annoyed, wondering if he’d actually made the correct decision in calling Ace, maybe he should’ve talked to Koala instead.

“Wow, touchy,” Ace whistled amusement still clear in his voice, “So no big deal, just try again next time, sure she’s probably confused but if you make it up to her then it’s fine. There is a next time right?”

“Yeah, she said she’d like to take a turn planning, it’s this coming Sunday.” Sabo answered honestly, “And it’s not that easy.”

“Course it is,” Ace told him bracingly, “Just pucker up and kiss the girl, maybe slip some tongue if she seems agreeable.”

“I just want it to be special,” Sabo admitted with a sigh, “And I mean what if I’m bad at it?”

“At what? Kissing?” his brother asked confused, “Shouldn’t you have figured that out by now?”

Sabo grimaced despite the fact that he knew Ace couldn’t see, and wished again he’d talked to Koala about this instead of Ace. Much as he loved his brother, Ace was never going to let him live this down.

“Don’t tell me…” Ace trailed off, the shock clear in his voice into the silence Sabo hadn’t been able to fill in time.

“Sabo have you seriously not kissed anyone yet?” he asked incredulously.

His silence apparently did all the speaking for him, and Ace snorted in amusement, “Really? How old are you again?”

“Shut up Ace,” Sabo growled, “I’ve been busy.”

“Busy with what? I mean I’m not exactly lazing around here in Whitebeard’s Coven either and I’ve still kissed plenty,” Ace informed him incredulously.

“Just busy okay,” Sabo snapped, “And I hadn’t found anyone worth kissing is all. Unlike some people I have standards.”

“Tch whatever,” and Sabo felt a little bad at the slight hurt clear in that dismissal. He forgot sometimes how sensitive his brother could be considering how cocky and arrogant he could come off at times. However he had been hurt too. It wasn’t his fault he hadn’t found anyone he liked well enough to be intimate with.

The Revolutionary Coven didn’t have many females, and the ones they did have were either taken, or more friend material like Koala, and you couldn’t have paid him to touch the vampires in the Noble Coven he’d belonged to so long ago. 

That same Noble Coven had also quelled any desire he’d ever had to use a Blood House and a human female. The depravities that occurred in their Blood Houses still made him sick to his stomach to this day thinking about them. Instead he survived on donated blood bags, something that Dragon was luckily very accommodating about. He never would’ve been able to approach any of the humans in that sort of environment, let alone try to start a romantic relationship with one.

(Name) had been an exception, because she was nothing like those victims from the Blood Houses in his past. She was a fighter, and she never would’ve stood for being treated that way. Though admittedly the reason he’d approached her that first time had been because she reminded him of them, and he’d wanted to do something, anything, to make up for those times he’d just stood by helpless.

“Just kiss her next time Sabo,” Ace told him, speaking up into the silence that had dragged on a lot longer than he’d meant it to, as he was lost in his thoughts, “You’ll be fine.”

“Sure,” he told his brother with a shrug that he couldn’t see.

“We still on for Friday?” Ace asked hesitantly. They had planned to go see a movie, just the two older brothers for once. Honestly he’d almost forgotten, they almost never did anything just the two of them, but it wasn’t the kind of movie Luffy would like, and both of them had wanted to see it.

“Yeah, of course, see you then,” Sabo told his brother holding his sigh in, not wanting to make Ace believe he didn’t want to go, as much of an idiot as his brother could sometimes be he didn’t want to hurt his feelings anymore than he probably had already.

“Cool, bye,” Ace told him but didn’t hang up instead offering, “And I’m glad everything went well, even if you did chicken out at the end.”

He hung up before Sabo could say anything else, though he did feel a surge of fondness for the eldest of their group. He was still terrible about expressing his emotions, but Sabo had gotten good at interpreting over the years. 

Still as soon as he finished his dinner he was going to go track down Koala, who would hopefully be more sympathetic and give better advice.

…~oO*Oo~…

Breathing deeply she went at the bag again, taking out her frustrations, because no matter what she’d told Hannah earlier about being confident and making the first move next time she was still frustrated.

She knew she wasn’t all that great at the relationship thing, and before it had never really mattered but she was getting to the point in her life where she was a little lonely. It wasn’t that she needed a man in her life, she was perfectly capable of managing on her own, but…

Having someone to come home to after a long day, instead of her glaringly empty apartment, someone to share food and stories, someone to hold and be held by, it was something she _wanted. _She just wasn’t sure how to go about trusting people. Honestly Hannah made it look so easy, opening her arms and her heart to anyone who asked without a second thought.__

__She on the other hand spent most of her time trying to suss out motives, dissecting and assessing actions, words, behavior. She wanted to know that if she opened up her heart she wouldn’t be hurt. Unfortunately life didn’t work like that, and she knew it. There were no guarantees, not ever. Thus if she really wanted to have someone in her life she’d need to get past some of her issues, she just didn’t know how._ _

__A frustrated punch to the bag broke the chain and sent it tumbling to the floor. She sighed, running a frustrated hand through her hair at having to replace the bag again, only for her thoughts to be interrupted by the sound of slow clapping. Whirling around, her hand on the dagger at her waist she was surprised to see the redhead Mihawk had introduced to her the other night, leaning against the raised ring in the center of the room, slowly clapping._ _

__“Redhair,” she acknowledged with a dip of the head, reaching out to swipe a towel over her sweaty face, and take a few long gulps of water before asking, “What brings you to my humble gym?”_ _

__“Ah! No need to copy old Hawky! Just call me Shanks,” the old and extremely powerful vampire told her with a cheerful grin and a wave, “And as for why I’m stopping in. I asked the stubborn bird if I could take his place today and have a chat with you.”_ _

__“And he agreed to that?” she asked skeptically, taking another gulp of water._ _

__“Nope,” Shanks agreed rather cheerfully for someone who was apparently outright defying one of the more powerful vampires around, though she supposed that wouldn’t really bother him considering how powerful he was himself._ _

__“Unfortunately for Hawky though he got a call from the World Government Coven, and went to chat with them for a while, leaving me free and clear to come see you,” he told her brightly, “That and give his excuses for not coming today even though he said he would, though he did tell me to tell you he’d stop in sometime soon, and he warned me to be on my best behavior.”_ _

__She snorted at the deeply offended look on the man’s face at the thought that he might not act his very best in her presence. For such a powerful vampire, Shanks did a good job at making himself seem less intimidating than he was. She could see how a person in his position might find that a good strategy, and she admired how well he did it, but in this case it just made her even more wary than she might’ve already been, on guard against falling for that cheerful, harmless persona, sensing an extreme level of strength from him that if she was honest, not even Mihawk quite matched._ _

__“What is it you want with me?” she asked bluntly, figuring that was probably the route to go with this particular vampire, who didn’t seem the sort to play intense mind games._ _

__“Ah, so accusatory!” Shanks protested, clearly amused rather than offended, “I’m only curious after all. I just want to meet the human old Hawky’s been so interested in, and he must be interested, considering he’s been training you for what? Seven years?”_ _

__“Eight,” she admitted calmly, folding her arms across her chest and waiting for him to get around to what he actually wanted._ _

__“Impressive, we should spar sometime,” he offered with a grin, piquing her interest. She’d heard from Mihawk himself that Shanks used to be a rival of his, up until he’d lost his arm, and then a strange sense of honor had kept her mentor from ever sparring with him again. Interestingly enough this was shortly before he met her, and started training her up. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if the two events were linked somehow._ _

__“I wouldn’t mind,” she relented, after all despite only having one arm, Shanks was a vampire and a powerful one at that, even with his “handicap” she was pretty sure he’d still kick her ass. The experience would still probably be good for her._ _

__“Excellent,” he told her with a beaming smile, “I’ll look forward to it.”_ _

__The silence lingered between them, as she wasn’t really sure what to say to the powerful Coven leader, and he seemed the type to dislike long silences. She figured it would probably be best if he spoke first, otherwise she’d probably be here all day trying to figure out what he wanted._ _

__“Alright so I did come here for a reason,” he relented, a petulant look on his face as he finally filled the silence, which only became more pronounced as she raised a single eyebrow in reply._ _

__“I wanted to ask if you would accept the formal protection of the Red Hair Coven,” he informed her, digging around in his pocket, and then tossing a small object in her direction._ _

__She caught it neatly in her right palm and eyed it. It was a small medallion, made of gold, etched with a smiling skull with three scratches over the eye that mimicked the scars the Coven leader had, with a small loop at the top, just big enough to thread a chain through._ _

__“Why?” she asked immediately, then fought to keep the wince off her face. Being blunt when she was questioning Sabo’s motives for asking her on a date was one thing. It was something entirely different to question an extremely powerful Coven Leader who was offering her protection. It could have extremely dangerous consequences._ _

__Luckily it seemed Red Haired Shanks was just as easy going as rumor said, and simply laughed loudly, amused instead of irritated at her blunt questioning of a gift, rarely bestowed on humans and beyond priceless for most._ _

__“That,” he told her with a happy smile, “That’s exactly why I’m offering.”_ _

__She was confused, and it must’ve showed on her face because he continued, “For Mihawk to show an interest in a human, it’s completely unheard of, or it was until last night. For that alone we would’ve kept an eye on you. After all Mihawk may not be part of my Coven, but he is my friend, and I look after my friends.”_ _

__“However that wouldn’t have been enough to make me offer the protection of my Coven to you,” he assured her his tone serious despite the smile, “You’re a very interesting human, and I like the way you carry yourself, and I’m not the first to think so, nor will I be the last. After all it’s not everyday a human girl manages to impress a good chunk of Whitebeard’s sons, the right hand of the Revolutionary Dragon, and my own protégé Luffy.”_ _

__“And that’s not to mention Hawkeye of course, plus Benn likes you a lot too, you made a good impression on him last night, and that is not an easy Vamp to impress,” Shanks told her seriously._ _

__(Name) frowned, she had talked a bit to the one called Benn Beckman last night. He was very polite, a bit like Sabo in that regard, and had been happy to tell her about the rifle he carried slung over his back, as well as commiserate over having to keep an eye on reckless best friends._ _

__“What’s surprising isn’t the fact that I’m offering my protection, it’s the fact that I’m the first to do so,” Shanks informed her, the look in his eyes telling her he was completely serious, “So what do you say? Will you accept my protection?”_ _

__Slowly she weighed the pros and cons. On one hand, having a big name coven like Shanks backing her would see a lot of doors which had previously been firmly shut, open up for her. On the other hand, as a human while some vampires would back off at Shanks protection, others would become more interested, thinking the human would be a good weak spot, or an excellent hostage to leverage over the Red Hair Coven._ _

__“What does Mihawk think of this?” she asked with a frown absently curling and uncurling her fingers from around the small medallion._ _

__“Ah, Hawky said you could decide what you wanted for yourself, it wouldn’t impact any of his decisions either way,” Shanks told her, clearly amused._ _

__“Alright then,” she told him, her interest in learning more about vampires and meeting more interesting people far outweighing her fear of being put in a dangerous situation, “I accept.”_ _

__Shanks let out a hearty laugh and quickly crossed the room to clasp a friendly hand on her shoulder, a happy grin on his face, “Well then, (name) welcome to our little family.”_ _

__She got the feeling he actually meant that, strange as it seemed, and was both warmed and a little wary. After all she hadn’t had anything close to ‘family’ in a long time outside of Hannah in a long time. Still it could be interesting._ _

__“Thanks,” she told him and meant it, as she closed her hand around the medallion decisively, knowing this was sure to make her life even more interesting.__

__…~oO*Oo~…_ _

__Talking to Shanks was surprisingly easy, mostly because he reminded her a lot of Mihawk when he wasn’t drunk to the gills. Not in any obvious ways of course, Shanks was extroverted while Mihawk clearly was more introverted, and Shanks was wildly charismatic while Mihawk was more old school charm, but both were very intense people, incredibly driven and intelligent._  
_

__They both also had hidden depths that had quite honestly surprised her quite a bit. After all who would’ve guessed Mihawk, who was renown for being the Greatest Swordsman of All Time, had a secret gardening hobby? Or that the feared Warlord Coven Leader Red Haired Shanks was so good with relationship advice? She certainly wouldn’t have._ _

__The second revelation had come after she realized Shanks probably wouldn’t be leaving for some time, seemingly intent on getting to know her better, and she’d invited him over to her place above the gym, figuring it couldn’t hurt anything. After all he already knew about the gym, which he probably only learned of through Hawkeye, and she wasn’t one to question her mentor’s judgment on who was trustworthy and who wasn’t. That and the more time she spent in Shanks’ presence the more her instincts assured her he really was a trustworthy person._ _

__Shanks had explored her apartment while she took a quick shower and freshened up, and then the two of them had sat down to chat some more in her living room. Eventually the subject had come around to Sabo, and how her date with him had gone._ _

__She’d been surprised that he knew, until he revealed the entire table had seen the blonde Revolutionary hurry after her, along with the extremely smug grin on his face when he got back. Shanks had also proceeded to tell her all about how Mihawk had threatened all the male vampires at the table, including his ‘poor innocent Lufffy’ about treating her the right way._ _

__She was both flattered and exasperated, though her battered ego from the date with Sabo, did lift a bit at hearing he was sure enough about dating her that he’d faced down Mihawk for her. Not an easy feat she was sure._ _

__Figuring another opinion couldn’t hurt she’d proceeded to spill the entirety of the date to Shanks, who turned out to be a very good listener. He’d then proceeded to give her a very interesting insight._ _

__“You know he’s quite a bit older than you right?” Shanks pointed out reasonably._ _

__She frowned confused, “I mean I guessed that he probably was, but I didn’t think it was an issue. Is it?”_ _

__“In terms of actually having a relationship with him, no not at all,” he assured her immediately, “However he might do things a little bit differently than you probably expect, since you mentioned you’d only dated humans before.”_ _

__“How so?” she asked curiously._ _

__“Well, he was born in the mid 1900s most likely, and the culture was completely different back then,” Shanks told her with a shrug, “And while we vampires do try to keep up with the times, as a necessity, some things tend to stick with us. For example you’ll have noticed he dresses a certain way? That’s definitely a holdover.”_ _

__“Oh,” she replied a bit nonplussed. Honestly she’d never thought of it like that before. Yes she’d noticed that certain vampires tended to favor certain types of dress, but she’d never really considered it outside of thinking they had their own strange fashion trends. It had never occurred to her that they were simply wearing clothes in a style that they were more comfortable in from bygone eras, or that more than clothing might persist from the eras they were born into._ _

__“So you think that’s why he didn’t kiss me? He’s too much of an old fashioned gentleman?” she asked with a frown, feeling a bit off put at the idea. She liked Sabo’s manners but she didn’t like the idea of being treated like a porcelain doll the way women in earlier eras had been._ _

__“Yes and no,” Shanks told her gently, “I think that maybe despite being over fifty years old the Revolutionary doesn’t kiss people lightly, and might have thought it was too soon. I can’t guarantee that of course, especially since as a Revolutionary he’s probably very forward thinking. However what I am saying is don’t worry about it too much, and understand if he does kiss you it probably means quite a bit to him.”_ _

__She nodded slowly, and before she could help herself she began pouring out her troubles when it came to trusting men and wanting a relationship, including the whole debacle with how she met Mihawk, and her opinion on sharing blood with a vampire she trusted._ _

__In the end Shanks had sat back and looked at her thoughtfully for a minute before giving her some extremely sound advice, “I think, that in order to trust you have to decide if what you have or could potentially have is worth the pain being let down might bring you. If it is, then you bet your ass you should put your whole heart into it, and if not, then back out and try to leave both parties with as much dignity as possible.”_ _

__She’d been a little shocked to hear such a profound statement coming from the supposedly ‘air headed’ Coven leader, but again she was learning Shanks had depth to him, far more than she ever would’ve expected._ _

__Conversation from there had turned to Shanks instead, and the man had more than happily told her all about his own relationship with his mate Makino, who he clearly adored. It was obvious he worshipped the ground the woman walked on and he’d promised he would introduce the two of them someday. He apparently thought they’d get along quite well._ _

__From there they’d gone into how he met Hawkeye, and his many adventures and mishaps as a Coven leader, along with funny stories both about himself, and his Coven mates. He’d even divulged a few about Hawkeye though he’d sworn her to secrecy about those telling her his friend/rival would likely take his head off if he ever learned Shanks had told someone about them._ _

__She’d laughed and agreed. By the end of the night she’d come to quite like the Red Hair Coven leader, and noted that he was extremely charismatic, dangerously so, though she couldn’t bring herself to regret agreeing to his protection, even as he left giving her one last cheerful wave, after having pressed all sorts of phone numbers and addresses on her in case she ever had need of him, and making her swear to visit sometimes._ _

__She’d been left shaking her head, but smiling, pleased to have made a new friend, even if he was a strange and extremely dangerous one, though that seemed to be exactly the type of person she attracted these days._ _

__As if on cue her phone began to ring. Curious she’d pulled it out, wondering if Shanks had forgotten something, only to see the name of a different vampire on the screen._ _

__“Hello?” she asked curiously, bringing her phone to her ear._ _

__“(Name)?” a familiar voice asked, “It’s Marco ~yoi.”_ _

__“Hi, how are you?” she asked politely._ _

__“Not bad, a little stressed from wrangling my brothers, so nothing out of the normal, and you?” he returned equally polite._ _

__“A little frazzled from spending all day chatting with Red Haired Shanks, but other than that good, what’s up?” she asked deciding she might as well be honest with him._ _

__“So Red Hair followed through on his offer of protection ~yoi,” Marco stated more than asked, then sighed, “That’s certainly interesting but not why I called.”_ _

__She waited, figuring he could continue without prompting from her, and sure enough, “I was wondering if you’d like to have coffee with me tomorrow.”_ _

__“Coffee?” she repeated surprised._ _

__“Yeah, figured it might be nice to chat a bit ~yoi,” he told her and she thought she heard just the faintest tinge of embarrassment in his voice, “Get away from the Blood House for a bit, and maybe prepare you for meeting the family.”_ _

__“Shouldn’t Hannah be the one being prepared?” she asked not hostile just curious._ _

__“I’m sure Thatch and Izo have it well in hand…” he trailed off then tried again, “Well Izo will have it well in hand.”_ _

__She laughed, even not knowing Thatch really well she could tell he wasn’t the type to do a whole lot of planning ahead, “I’m glad.”_ _

__She thought about it then decided it couldn’t hurt anything, after all she wasn’t doing anything important tomorrow, “Sure I’ll meet you for coffee, when and where.”_ _

__Marco gave her the details for a small Coffee House on the edge of Whitebeard territory, and the two of them exchanged a few more pleasantries before hanging up, leaving her a bit bemused wondering what exactly tomorrow would bring, and a little worried about what Sabo would think._ _

__Still she shunted that thought to the side, she’d been upfront and honest from the beginning, and she would make sure to tell Sabo about the date with Marco, and Marco about the dates with Sabo, and let either vampire make of that what they will. After all she still wasn’t quite sure where she stood with either of them thanks to Sabo’s reticence on the date and Marco’s ambiguity. When she did find out, she’d make her choice clear and hopefully that would be that._ _

__Plan set, she went about making herself some dinner, wondering what exactly Marco’s intentions were. Was he aiming for friends or something more?_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks to everyone who left Kudos/Comments or subscribed!


	8. Chapter 8

Marco sat in the booth idly sipping his coffee waiting for (Name) to show up. He'd actually been in the little coffee house for a couple of hours already working on his paperwork. He had a lot of it to get done and working at home had been impossible, no thanks to his brothers who insisted on pestering him about (Name). Unfortunately someone, no one would admit who exactly, had overheard his conversation with her on the phone yesterday and the word had spread like wild fire that the two of them had a date.

Even Oyaji had gotten in on the act, asking him about the human girl who was so interesting to him and several other powerful vampires. He hadn't been able to say much, assuring the older vampire that they hadn't even gone on an official date yet but once they had he'd get back to him.

The only one who wasn't pestering him was Ace who was doing his best to ignore everything. He understood of course it wasn't easy being caught between him and Sabo, and frankly Ace was being really good about it. The only thing he'd agreed to say was that Sabo had gone on that date with her and it had gone well, and that was it. No one dared to pester him for more details than that, not wanting to upset their temperamental brother or put him in a harder position than he already was.

Lifting his cup to his lips he took a small sip of the black coffee and hummed appreciatively at the taste. He really did like this little cafe, it was one of his favorite places when he needed to get away for a bit and relax. He just hoped (name) would enjoy it as much as he did. Glancing down at his phone he noted it was about time for her to arrive, and just as he thought it the bells over the door chimed.

Glancing over he took in her appearance, which was much more toned down than usual. She was wearing dark jeans and a t-shirt and her hair was up in a bun at the back of her head. As she turned to face him glancing around, obviously looking for him, he noted she was wearing very little, if any, make-up. It was such a contrast to the way he'd seen her at the Blood House that it took him aback for a second, and he was grateful for the few seconds it took her to cross over to him to re-gather his wits. Honestly he'd liked the make-up, but he'd always preferred a more natural look on the women he dated.

"Hey," she greeted casually leaning a hip on the table and glancing down at his paperwork, eyes darting over to his coffee cup before settling back to meet his gaze again, "Working hard?"

"Figured I'd get a little work done before you got here ~yoi" he admitted a little embarrassed at the mess, eyeing the sloppy stacks of paper and messy writing, along with the various office supplies and multicolored post-its scattered over the table, "If you want to go grab your drink I'll get this cleaned up so you can sit."

She grinned and nodded in easy agreement turning to walk away towards the counter but not before tossing one more casual remark over her shoulder, "By the way, I like your post-it notes."

Confused he turned toward the table and fought the urge to groan out loud. He was going to _murder_ Haruta the next time he saw him. The stickies she was talking about were pineapple shaped with a small Hello Kitty in the corner. They were a gag gift from his brother who told him he'd bought them because they "reminded him of Marco."

He would've thrown them away, but that just seemed wasteful. He figured he probably wouldn't ever use them, but today he'd been running low and hadn't even thought about it. Sighing he hurriedly stuffed them and the papers he'd been working on into his bag, clearing the table for the two of them just in time for (name) to return.

She had an iced something or another in her hands along with two cookies on plates. He was surprised when she slid one over to him as she took her own seat. It was oatmeal raisin, his favorite at this particular coffee shop.

"You looked like you could use a pick-me-up," she told him with a shrug taking a sip of her drink and humming appreciatively, "And the barista said it was your favorite."

"Thanks," he told her, once more struck by how different she was from his previous dates. Not once had someone thought to pay for something for him, completely unprompted, on a date that he had initiated. Most everyone he'd gone out with had expected him to pay because of how wealthy his coven was.

"So how are you?" she asked as the silence stretched between them.

"Not bad, busy but not terribly so, how did your meeting with red hair go ~yoi?" he asked curiously.

In response she reached into the collar of her t-shirt and presented the two little medallions that dangled on the end of the chain she wore around her neck, one Hawkeye's and the other recognizably Red Hair's.

"I see, what did you think of him?" Marco asked curiously. He'd known the man for a long time now, and had his own opinions of the Coven Leader who was rumored to rival his own, however he was interested to know what she had thought about him.

"Shanks, wasn't what I was expecting," she admitted with a slight frown.

"How so?" he prompted.

"Well when I first met him, that night with Mihawk it surprised me because he didn't act in the way I expected an extremely powerful Coven Leader to act. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, given that I'd never actually met one before, but he certainly wasn't it," she explained, "I actually anticipated something closer to the way Mihawk acts especially since they consider themselves allies, but Shanks almost seemed like the polar opposite of him."

"A lot of people have wondered about that particular relationship, myself included ~yoi," he assured her amused, "And while Coven Leaders can be a bit eccentric most of them probably are exactly the way you're thinking they are. Dragon for example is very similar to Mihawk in demeanor. Shanks and Oyaji are considered a bit odd in terms of the way they run their Covens."

"I don't know if that's reassuring or not," she told him with a smirk, "So Shanks and Whitebeard are similar?"

Marco nearly choked on his coffee in horror at the thought, hurriedly clearing his throat spluttering as he choked out, "No! No, not at all."

He could see the clear amusement on her face as he regained some of his dignity, "No I just mean they're both considered eccentric, mostly because they treat their Covens like families where most others are more like business relationships, that's the only similarity though I swear ~yoi."

"Oh? Not a big fan of Shanks?" She asked curiously apparently picking up on the slightly derisive tone he'd used.

"It's not that I dislike him per se it's more a matter of his personality conflicting with mine, Shanks' carefree attitude rubs me the wrong way at times, and I know my more serious views sometimes irk him as well, though it doesn't stop him from pestering me almost every time he sees me, trying to get me to leave Oyaji and join his coven instead. Like I would ever leave Pops," he told her unable to stop the annoyance leaking into his tone, honestly Red Hair drove him up the wall, and worse he knew the other man did it on purpose.

"I see," she told him, and there was an amused quirk to her lips that she wasn't able to completely hide as she took another sip of her drink.

From there the conversation devolved into talking about Red Hair and the many things he'd done over the years to irk Marco, along with some of the things some of his brothers had done in retaliation. They also spoke a little more about the current prominent Coven leaders including Sengoku, Dragon, Boa Hancock, Doflamingo and many of the other more eccentric vampires around.

He told her stories about his run ins with the quirky vampires he'd met over the years and in turn she told him all about some of the amusing people who'd come into her gym for lessons over the years. They were just chatting a bit about Kaido when he noticed she was beginning to look uncomfortable. Confused he paused mid-description and asked, "Are you alright ~yoi?"

...~oO*Oo~...

She'd been enjoying Marco's stories and listening to some of the things he'd gotten up to during the long duration of his life when something caught her attention. She wasn't entirely sure what it was at first, but the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up, and she got the eerie feeling she was under observation.

Subtly glancing around as she sipped her drink she noticed two suspicious looking characters out of the corner of her eye. They were dressed rather oddly one in what looked like an old fashioned knight's attire and the other in a huge white coat edged with green. Both were wearing enormous mirrored sunglasses and were sporting coffee cups in their hands.

Vampires. That much at least, she knew for sure. She wasn't sure if they were a threat or not, but she would've thought, this being Whitebeard's territory, that if they were Marco would've noticed them and done something. Then again the Vampires from CP-9 and their leader Panda or whatever had been able to come into the Blood House jointly owned by Whitebeard, Dragon, and Shanks, not once but twice, so maybe they were allowed to be here? It was pretty close to the edge of the territory after all.

"Are you alright ~yoi?" Marco's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she realized she'd stopped paying attention to what he'd been saying and grimaced.

"I'm fine just..." she trailed off then decided she might as well just go for it just in case they were a threat of some kind, and dropped her voice, "Those vampires, right by the counter, in the little alcove to the right of the espresso machine, they're watching us."

To his credit Marco didn't jerk around to look at them to confirm what she was saying, at his age he was probably too experienced to make such rookie mistakes but the way he nonchalantly pulled back and twisted ever so slightly to see them out of the corner of his eye was impressive nonetheless.

Upon catching sight of them she heard Marco growl under his breath, and her hand inched toward the dagger she was keeping sheathed at her waist, wondering if there really was going to be trouble again. However instead of jumping up to fight them or continuing to growl Marco let out an extremely annoyed sigh, turned to the spies and said, "Oy, you idiots get lost would you?"

Turning so she could see them as well, she was amused to see them trying to slink further into the corner as if they could somehow melt into the shadows and out from Marco's annoyed gaze. Eventually they seemed to realize that their efforts were futile and one, the one with blond dreadlocks straightened up and turned in their direction.

"We have as much a right to be here as you Marco, and we're paying customers, we're simply here enjoying are coffee," he told her blond friend holding his cup in front of him as evidence. His voice was calm with just a hint of an accent tingeing the words that reminded her a bit of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

"That's right, that's right," his friend agreed spitting out the words so fast she had to take a couple moments to decipher what he was saying, "We're just relaxing Marco just like you."

"Bullshit," Marco informed them with a snort, arms crossing over his chest, and she imagined if he was standing his foot would've been tapping impatiently, "You're only here because you knew I'd be here with (name)."

"That's not true at all!" the blond one protested, a bit feebly in her opinion, but then hurried on much more confidently, "But anyway now that you've caused a scene, we might as well introduce ourselves to the interesting human Haruta's been going on and on about. I'm Rakuyo and this is Speed Jiru, or just Jiru if you prefer, we're Marco's brothers, members of the Whitebeard Coven."

That explained a lot, or at least it explained why Marco hadn't noticed any interlopers in the area, probably too used to the presence of his brothers to take note of them even if they were spying on him.

"I'm (name)," she greeted politely, "Nice to meet you."

The two apparently took that as their cue that they were welcome to join them, and hurried over, coffee cups in hand. What followed felt like a bit of an interrogation, even if it was friendly enough. A couple of times Marco tried to intervene or send his brothers away to no avail, the two of them steamrollered right over him, much to her amusement.

Luckily once they got their pressing questions answered the conversation got lighter and they proceeded to tell her about themselves, more about the Whitebeard's and even some about Marco himself, who by then appeared to be resigned to their company. Once they'd settled she found she liked the two of them, both were fairly easy going and once she got used to it she found Jiru's fast talking and Rakuyo's unabashed bluntness amusing.

They spent a good couple of hours just chatting, reordering their drinks whenever they got empty. It was nice, like a day out with friends, something she hadn't had in a long time. She and Hannah had grown apart from the others in their class over the years, and so didn't have much company outside of each other and their coworkers, so being among friends again was a nice feeling.

She parted ways with them just in time for dinner, stating her need for something more substantial than cafe food to fill her belly, and promising to see them tomorrow at the Blood House for the big meeting between Hannah and the rest of them, feeling a bit more at ease about the ordeal to come knowing not everyone would be a stranger.

...~oO*Oo~...

Ace grinned at his brother who was still chuckling from the movie they'd gone to see. It had been a good one, lots of action and humor, though far more cerebral at points than Luffy would've been able to stand, which was why their baby brother hadn't been invited. It had been a while since the two of them had done anything together without him, but it was kind of nice.

"This was good," Sabo said out loud echoing his thoughts a bright smile on his face, "I've missed hanging out with you like this."

"Yeah, too bad you didn't end up joining Whitebeard's Coven with me, it could've been fun," Ace told him wistfully.

Sabo had actually been offered the position, all three brothers had as a matter of fact, but only Ace had taken him up on it, though not until after the Coven leader had proved he really was the strongest vampire in the world by beating the stuffing out of all three of them. Luffy of course hadn't joined because ever since meeting Shanks as a young child his dream had been to create a powerful coven of his own. However Sabo hadn't been so definite.

Up until actually meeting Dragon and hearing about his cause Sabo's only dream was to live his life as free as possible as far from his former 'noble' coven as possible. Freedom was something Whitebeard had been more than happy to offer his brother but Sabo had needed time to think about it. During that time Dragon had come by, and by circumstances that still hadn't been disclosed to him he and Sabo had, had a long chat, and Sabo was quickly won over to Dragon's cause.

Honestly it didn't surprise Ace at all that Sabo felt the need to fight back against the Noble Covens and the Celestial Dragon Coven in particular. He felt extremely guilty for being born of their blood and for not stepping in and preventing some of the atrocities he'd seen before he'd run away from the Coven he'd been born into. No matter how much Ace and Luffy tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, that there was nothing he could have done in the face of their power when he was just a single young vampire, his blond brother still felt the need to atone.

It's not like he was against the idea of bringing down the Celestial Dragons and the Noble Covens. After all it was their fault Sabo had the scars he did from the night that had given all three brothers nightmares, and still sometimes did to this day.

He and Luffy had been separated from Sabo during one of their trips out of the wilderness they lived in with Dadan and her small Coven and into the small vampire community that was considered a peripheral Coven to the main Noble Coven in the area. Unfortunately that day all three of them had been caught up in the cullings. Cullings were what happened when a Noble Clan or Celestial Dragon clan thought members were no longer worthy to be part of their Coven even if only peripherally. 

Rumor had it, it was also the way they got rid of the evidence of turning vampires outside the mating laws. Everyone knew they did it, but no one was willing or able to call them on it because no one could stand up to their coalition, considering it included all the Noble Covens, all the Celestial Dragon Covens, and the World Government Coven as well. Which was hypocrisy at its finest considering they would turn on other Covens outside their alliance in a heartbeat if a member was caught breaking the mating accords.

That night the Noble Coven had been culling ostensibly to get rid of the evidence before the visit from a not as closely allied Celestial Dragon Coven. A whole group of the peripheral Coven of this Noble Coven, called the Goa Coven, had been sectioned off and burned to death. Ace and Luffy had only just managed to not be caught inside the sectioned off area when it began to burn, roasting those that were trapped inside.

Sabo hadn't been so lucky. It was sheer and utter guts that had gotten him out of there alive, by essentially catapulting himself over the wall that had trapped the members of the Coven that were to be culled. He'd broken several bones, and been hit by burning debris and had taken months to recover after, but he had survived. The only one of two hundred lives that had ended that night, scorched into their memories with the smell of smoke, burning flesh, and the sounds of screaming vampires in their death throes.

He would never forgive the Noble Covens and the World Nobles for the part they'd played in that night, which had almost cost him both his brothers, but he wasn't about to strike up a vendetta against them the way Sabo was determined to either.

"Yeah well, Dragon needed me, and I'm happy where I am," Sabo told him with a sincere smile.

It was the smile that always made his heart skip a beat whenever he saw it, the kind that lit his brother's face, making his eyes glow with happiness and contentment. Honestly Sabo could look positively angelic at times, despite being anything but.

He quickly stomped down on the fluttery feeling with a complete and utter ruthlessness. He'd had the tiniest of crushes on his blond brother for over twenty years now, and the feeling still horrified him whenever it made itself known to him. Sabo was his _brother_ he was definitely not allowed to be feeling anything but warm platonic affection his blond brother, the same kind he had for Luffy.

He would never _ever_ risk their relationship over something so trivial and stupid as his unwanted feelings, especially since as far as he was aware Sabo was one hundred percent heterosexual, as proven by how absolutely stupid his brother got around pretty girls. Which was why he was so forceful about trying to stamp them out.

Unfortunately he'd been trying for years unsuccessfully to get rid of those unwanted feelings with no success. He'd tried everything from dating others men and women alike, to sleeping with anyone who met his extraordinarily low standards to absolutely no avail. No matter how much he liked whatever relationship or bed partner he had his little crush never dissipated.

Part of that he felt might be because he'd never met anyone who'd understood him as well as his brother did, who accepted him so wholly and completely and who felt like his equal in all things the way Sabo did and was. Which was also probably why he'd never been able to love anyone in a romantic sense.

"And I know you're happy where you are too, otherwise I would've asked you to come join me instead," Sabo continued on, completely oblivious to his inner turmoil, "How are things for you anyway?"

"Not bad," Ace told him with a shrug, "Everyone's in a tizzy about meeting Hannah and (Name) tomorrow, which is kind of annoying. Pops is unhappy he can't go because he has to meet with the doctors. They're a little worried about his health and making a fuss over his drinking habits again."

"If the amount of sake Whitebeard drinks hasn't killed him yet, it certainly isn't going to," Sabo told him with a snort.

"That's what Pops says too, but apparently Marco thought it was important enough for Pops to at least hear them out that he got everyone to gang up on the old man until he promised to go," Ace told him with a grin.

"Tomorrow's going to be pretty crazy huh?" Sabo asked with a sigh.

"Yeah, the Blood House is going to be packed. Are you going to be there?" Ace asked curiously.

"I am," Sabo admitted, "(Name) asked me to come so she could have a friendly face outside of Hannah."

"And here I thought she was capable of standing up for herself," Ace replied with a raised brow, unable to fight back the slight sting of jealously he got whenever Sabo mentioned her name.

"She is. I think she actually thinks that most of the attention will probably be on Hannah tomorrow since this was supposed to be her official meet and greet with your Coven, and she doesn't want to be the awkward third wheel," Sabo explained with a shrug.

Ace snorted, "You realize they are just as interested in her, maybe even more so than they are in Hannah?"

"I know," Sabo told him with a sigh, "Because Marco's interested in her right?"

"Well some of that I suppose, but mostly because she's caught so much attention recently from important figures, not just Marco, but you, me, Luffy, Thatch, Izo, Mihawk, and Shanks to name a few. Plus that thing with CP9 too. She's just different for a human, so everyone's interested is all," Ace explained with a shrug.

"Great, I just hope none of them decide they want to try to date her too, bad enough when it's just Marco," Sabo grumbled unhappily.

"They won't," Ace told him clapping his shoulder in support and offering her a grin, "After all Marco's called dibs essentially, and since they're actually in Marco's Coven they won't dare look at her as anything other than a potential sister, especially since its Marco we're talking about."

"I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse," Sabo told him with a sigh, shoulders drooping slightly.

Ace wasn't quite sure what to say to that without sounding like an ass or seeming like he was taking sides, which he most assuredly wasn't. Luckily his stomach rumbling interrupted the silence that had fallen between them.

"How about dinner?" he asked cheerfully, patting his rumbling stomach in the assurance that it'd be fed soon, "My treat?"

Sabo snickered and rolled his eyes, "You mean we're dine and dashing again?"

Ace mock glared in annoyance, "I will have you know that I don't do that kind of childish stuff anymore!"

Sabo raised an eyebrow at him in clear disbelief and Ace huffed in annoyance at the easy way his brother was able to read him, "Fine, since we're in Whitebeard territory, even if I did try to dine and dash they'd just put it on the Whitebeard tab anyway."

Sabo laughed, a full out belly laugh that made Ace's heart flutter again before he shoved the feeling away and instead pouted at his brother, not amused at being the butt of the joke, but unable to fight the smile away from the corner of his lips.

"Alright laugh it up, you want food or not? I know this great chinese place..." Ace offered.

"Sure, sounds great," Sabo told him, linking their arms together the way he used to when they were younger, "Lead the way brother."

Ace did so and tried to ignore the fluttering that was trying to tell him that this was exactly like a date, glad the darkness hid the tiny flush on his cheeks.

...~oO*Oo~...

Hannah sighed in contentment as (Name) ran a brush through her hair. The two of them had decided to have an impromptu sleepover at (Name's) house, or well she had decided and (Name) had gone along with it, so that they could get ready together tomorrow. Plus it had been a while since the two of them had been able to hang out and just laze around (Name's) place, eating popcorn, watching movies and debating Iron Man vs. Captain America. (She was Captain America all the way but (Name) thought he was too much of a goody two-shoes and a hypocrite to boot and preferred Iron Man's sarcasm and wit.)

"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" (Name) asked curiously as she began to braid small sections of hair, a habit she'd had since the two of them were children.

"Nervous," Hannah admitted with a sardonic smile, "How could I not be? The Whitebeard Coven is more than a little intimidating, and I want them to accept me. At the same time though I'm also kind of excited. I mean this is a big step, they're introducing me to their family!"

"That's true," (Name) replied an obvious smile in her voice even though Hannah couldn't see her, "Speaking of meeting the family though, are you going to let them meet yours?"

"I don't see why they should," Hannah told her pursing her lips unhappily. The thought of her two vampire lovers meeting her deadbeat father, and her greedy brother wasn't a pleasant one, both would want to try to take advantage of her new connection to the Whitebeard Coven, "As far as I'm concerned they've already met my family."

"Oh?" (Name) asked obviously confused, and it was Hannah's turn to smile softly.

"They've met you already, and you approve, otherwise you would've said something already," she explained and it was true. (Name) was the only person in the world she considered family, the only one whose opinion actually mattered to her, and seeing as (name) had been the one to introduce her to Thatch in the first place, she couldn't see her taking issue with their relationship.

Her friend's hands tightened in her hair for a second, clearly surprised, before relaxing again, "You're my only family too."

Hannah beamed at the fond tone in (Name's) voice, though she had already known that. She knew her friend adored her and well, (Name) was an orphan. Her mother had died in childbirth and her father had died in a shady Blood House when she was thirteen, not that he had been much of a father to her friend in the first place, too lost in his grief after the loss of his wife, and seeking the only release from pain her knew by letting vampires feed on him constantly.

It was how they'd bonded in the first place, over their fathers who wanted little to nothing to do with them and their dead mothers. The two of them had been relying on only each other for years now, supporting one another's dreams, and helping the other in any way they could. They may not have had actual blood families they could count on, but Hannah thought they'd done a good job making their own little family of two.

Unbidden a yawn pushed its way past her lips, and she grimaced. It had been a long day at work and the children had been extremely rambunctious. Plus there was another long day ahead of them tomorrow.

"Let's get to bed," (Name) prompted reading her thoughts the way she'd been doing for years, "Not going to do us any good to be tired tomorrow when we meet the rest of the Whitebeard Coven."

Hannah nodded and the two trundled off to her room where the spare mattress, which was kept tucked away under (Name's) bed for just this purpose, was already out. The two of them fell into bed, crawling under their respective covers, and allowed a peaceful silence to fall between them.

"Hey Hannah?" (Name's) voice, still clear broke the silence, surprising her.

"Hm?" she asked sleepily.

"Love you," it was said quietly enough she almost didn't hear it, and it was surprising enough to rouse her just a bit, after all she knew her friend loved her like family, but she very rarely said it aloud.

"Love you too," she returned happily sinking back into her drowsy state, feeling comfortable, warm, and cherished. Tomorrow would be just fine she knew, because she'd have (Name) by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! This one did not want to be written. I hope it turned out alright though! Hopefully next chapter will be easier!


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